


The Adventures of Nina in Skyrim

by Mitsuky



Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Chantry of Auri-el, Cyrodiil, Dovahkiin - Freeform, Dovahzul, Dunmeris, I can't stop changing the damn tags!, Lots of Cursing, Mentions of the Oblivion Crisis, Multi, Post-Oblivion Crisis, Skyrim's Civil War - Freeform, Summoning days of the Princes are Birthday celebrations days, The Daedric Princes took a chill pill on this fic, Thieves Guild, khajiit caravans - Freeform, mention of rape
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2019-11-18 02:30:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 89,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18111434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mitsuky/pseuds/Mitsuky
Summary: Ninada Ulvls is the second daughter of the last family of Falmers, or more commonly known as Snow Elves, still living in their homeland, Skyrim. She is also an eternal wanderer, a princess, a mother, a lover and a woman who doesn’t want to be tied down, not to someone else, not to the throne, and not to just one land.This is her story.





	1. The Falmer Queen

###### 31 Evening Star, 4E 200, Alinor, Summerset Isles

Ninada Ulvls is the second daughter of the last family of Falmers, or more commonly known as Snow Elves, still living in their homeland, Skyrim. She is also an eternal wanderer, a princess, a mother, a lover and a woman who doesn’t want to be tied down, not to someone else, not to the throne, and not to just one land.

She goes by Nina to family and friends; she's tall, with smooth curves and impeccable graceful movements ingrained into her since childhood like any other elf from noble families. Her hair is silvery-white, with braids to the sides of her head ending in a bun at the back of her head and decorated with a jewelled comb right now. Her eyes are violet, a vibrant but light shade of violet, with some light pink makeup putting some more colour to her eyelids and cheeks, and her skin is as pale as freshly fallen snow. Her cheekbones are high, sharp and angular like those of any other mer, her mouth, on the other hand, is small with plump red lips and her chin isn’t as pronounced. Her body is slim as is usual in most elves and her magicka is equally powerful, but her Snow Elf blood makes her body stronger than common mer as her skin is more resistant to magical damage and were other elves would find the cold difficult to stand, she enjoys it.

Ninada looks at her figure in the mirror while she brushes her drying hair, from there she can also see the sheet of parchment lying on her nightstand so harmlessly, her throat clenches and her eyes sting with tears trying to fall, but she wills them away and puts on her dress for the night. With some finishing touches to her makeup and the smallest amount of perfume, she grabs a light cloak and walks out of her residence in Alinor. A carriage waits outside, to take her to the New Year Festival at the palace, which will start right after midnight when the Old Life Festival officially finishes. Her traitorous eyes wander one last time to the lying parchment before she closes the door of her room.

> _Sister, it's been way too long since last you sent a letter. Are you fine? I know you can protect yourself but I can’t help but worry, after what happened. I’m on edge you could say. I'm sorry to be the deliverer of bad news but you must know this… Father died last month._
> 
> _I tried to send many letters by our usual means for weeks, but they’ve been intercepted and the couriers murdered not far from the palace. We don’t know who murdered father but we’ll try and discover the one who did this._
> 
> _I also understand why you left, but the people here need guidance, now more than ever, there are but a few of us left. Maybe it’s time for you to come back?_
> 
> _Please, I'm holding things as well as I can, but your help would be very much appreciated._
> 
> _With love, your little sister, Taarie._

The green grass dances with the currents of the blowing wind and fireflies light the surrounding hills, Ninada enjoys for the last time the warm weather and beautiful sight of Alinor at night. Tomorrow she's going back home. Back to Skyrim.

###### Alinor Royal Palace

Grabbing a cup of wine from one of the servants, Ninada walks in the direction of her prey, head high and hips swaying sensually, she walks behind him and with a soft touch on his back, she has his attention.

“Ninada,” he greets without even glancing back as nobody else would dare to grab his ass so shamelessly in the middle of such a public setting like this party, like she just did.

“Athyarel,” she says smoothly and sips from her cup, licking her lips slowly while he looks.

He ignores her teasing with ease, used to her antics by now, and excusing himself he leaves with her on his arm to the nearest shadowed balcony.

“I heard some interesting news about you,” he comments slash asks once they are alone, and after putting a privacy ward up.

“Nothing bad, I hope,” Nina mumbles staring at the sky.

“I heard you’re leaving. Soon, ” he punctuates the last word with a frown.

Nina nods, “Tomorrow more like.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to,” she shrugs sipping wine from the goblet she took out of his hands and not giving him the answers he demands for with his impetuous tone of voice, she’s in no obligation to.

“And, may I know where?” He grunts out, displeased.

For an ex-Justicar he’s always been rather easy to rile up, she thinks with a smirk appearing on her face. “Here, there and then… Skyrim.”

He stares at her for a long moment and then snorts, “Right... Snow Elf. Only you would go there willingly.” He shocks his head and grins back at her playfully, “More so with the current Civil War going on…”

Finishing her wine she shrugs again and throws the goblet over the balcony, grabs him by the neck of his robes, and kisses him hard. It’s not a matter of willingness, but obligation. She has a parent to bury, not that _that_ is any of his business. He may be her friend, but she knows better than to let _him_ know that she’s returning to Skyrim not to visit her family but to sit on the throne. Almost extinguished race or not, he’ll find the situation useful for him in some way and unnecessarily complicate things as she returns, she’s not blind to his faults.

By the time they stumble into his chambers, they’re already half-naked. With a shove, the Altmer falls onto the big bed with a huff and she takes her sweet time to slowly take the rest of her robes off. Athyrael looks up at her form, engulfed by the light of Masser and Secunda that enters through the windows at her back with dilated and hungry eyes, enjoying the show.

Crawling on her knees over the bed, she unclasps his belt and takes him on her hands, moving them slowly up and down his throbbing thick cock.

“Consider this a thank you for being such a sweetheart with me all this time,” she purrs, and with a devious smile she lowers her head, engulfing his flesh with a purr of pleasure.

They enjoy each others company for the last time and the next day Athyarel wakes up to the sun shining brightly through the windows, his bed cold and empty, but a letter with a golden key on top waiting for him on the desk that makes the feeling of disappointment go away.

> _I had a really good time last night. If you ever visit Skyrim, do be a dear and let me know. Also, thanks for the ship. As repayment for it, you may use my house as you see fit. A warning: don’t lose the key or the wards won’t let you in without my assistance and I don’t think I’ll be back for a long while. Love, Nina._ ♡

“Ship? What ship?” He asks to no one in particular, but just then a knock on the door calls his attention from the key wrapped tightly in his hand.

“Counselor, sir?”

“Come in.”

A guard stands posted outside the door while another gets in and wisely ignores the state of undress of the Altmer by the desk. “The Scarlett sailed early this morning, but we don’t have any information about this being approved of, sir.”

Athyarel laughs, startling the guards. “Of course she would take _that_ ship,” he mumbled to himself but the guard heard him anyway. Athyarel dismisses him with a signed sheet of approval and prepares for another day at court while mourning his stolen precious vessel.

At least she left him a place at which hide away from time to time and relax, that little minx, he thinks trying to console himself. He thinks fondly about his friend, for the last time, while making his way to the throne room. Hopefully, being the first day of the year, Herself will take it easy…

Who is he kidding? Athyarel sighs, bracing himself in front of doors leading to the throne room. She will work him to the bone, as usual, he mentally grumbles.

###### 16 Sun's Dawn, 4E 201, Skingrad, Cyrodiil

Six weeks later, Ninada sits under the shadow of a tree near a shrine. Many others walk around, laughing, drinking, touching… The summoning day of the daedric Prince of Debauchery is one of her favourites celebrations; the booze and the company are always good.

The sun starts to hide behind the faraway mountains, a soft warm breeze makes the weather perfect for what she has in mind. She raises her hand in the direction of the congregated followers of Sanguine and with a small movement of her wrist a pink ripple expands like mist over the entire place, not a second later, all of them are naked.

With a smile on her face and swaying her hips, she walks in the direction of the closest person and pulls the blond woman against her and their lips touch with a delicious moan escaping her, the others are invigorated by her actions and starts to get their own partners into heated embraces.

Many hours later, when the sunset has long ago passed, Sanguine appears in a show of lights and races from all around of Nirn greet him into their midst.

Sanguine, with a tankard full of liquor, makes his way into many of the groups as the night goes on.

Of the many daedric princes, this one is her favourite.

Drunk, tired and deliciously sore Ninada snuggles the closest body and with a sigh falls asleep just before the sun rises on the horizon. Thankfully, the weather is always comfortable nearby _His_ shrine.

###### 20 Sun's Dawn, 4E 201, Imperial City, Cyrodiil

“Nireth!” Ninada squeals while she hugs her friend. They haven’t seen each other for over a century.

“Well, look who we have here!” The little Bosmer returns the hug, mirroring her enthusiasm, “It’s so good to have you back, my friend. Come, come, we need to catch up, it’s been too long.” Ninada is lead to the back door that opens to a cosy kitchen and she takes a seat near the fire, “Ruth, be a dear and watch over the shop for me. Let me know if you have any problems!” Nireth bellows to her assistant. She closes the door after leaving her apprentice taking care of the patrons and gives Nina a warm smile when she puts a cup of tea in front of her.

“Well then, tell me everything!” Nireth demands, practically jumping on her seat of the excitement. “What kind of mischief have you been up to lately?”

* * *

“Athyarel!? As in, one of the members of the council of Herself? By the Gods!” Nireth laughs long and loudly, “Oh, but if it were me in your position I’d lick him from head to toe too, he’s such a pretty young thing…” the elf sighs wistfully.

“I did more than just lick him last time we meet,” Ninada wiggles her eyebrows suggestively and makes her friend laugh again. “Anyway, I left because I’m heading to Skyrim…”

“Are you mad!? There’s a civil war going on right now!” Her friend gasps worriedly.

“Meh, Nords against Imperials and the Thalmor sandwiched in the middle. What’s new about that? It’s been a while since I last got to play around, and I miss Cael but he’s on Oblivion and never visits…” she pouted, ignoring Nireth’s giggles.

###### 22 Sun's Dawn, 4E 201

“Next round is on me!” Nireth shouts to the room, many tipsy and drunk men cheering at her in answer. “For my friend here, Ninada’s 1785th birthday celebration!”

“Come down Nireth. You’re going to break your neck if you fall from the table,” Nina tugs her friend down and helps her sit.

Thanking the guy that brought her a drink, Nireth takes a large gulp of the brandy. “Damn,” she mumbles looking depressed all of a sudden. “You are way older than me and still look in your prime and me. Look at me! All wrinkled and old,” she says with a slight slur in her voice... “I miss my Baennim,” and she starts sobbing on her shoulder.

The last war was hard for all of them. Nireth’s husband died helping to close the damn portals to Dagon’s realm, the only thing she recovered from her twin were ashes… and then Latvus. Gods she loved that ridiculous elf.

Thankfully the last two hundred years helped to calm the despair she felt after that loss. But Nireth seems unable to do so as every time they meet she always ends up drunk and crying and Nina is incapable of saying anything to her friend, she understands perfectly how that feels like. She dragged her friends into that mess, the less she can do now is to hug her and grab her hair out of her face when she gets sick afterwards.

She knew her birthday party would most likely end like this, but she doesn’t really mind, who knows when they will see each other again.

Ninada enjoys a few peaceful days with her friend, she gets a new wardrobe made especially for her by Nireth and Ruth and the 13th of Mid Year they celebrate Nireth’s birthday. Finally, on the 2nd of Sun’s height, the day after the Merchants festival, she gets ready to once more continue her journey for Skyrim, with many goodies she restocked at the festival; the rose petals oil she uses after her baths is damn hard to obtain outside of the Summerset Isles.

###### 17 Last Seed, 4E 2001, Helgen, Skyrim

Ninada curses the horse thief for the million times in her head, while running after him and throwing fireballs at his ass. One passes right next to the man’s right ear and the shriek would have been a good source for a joke if the guy wasn't still running and she had to chase after him.

They’re stopped at the sight of imperial soldiers shoving other soldiers with blue and brown armour into carts. She’s so distracted laughing after the thief falls to the floor and soils his pants that she never notices the one soldier sneaking on her back and knocking her out. This is why she wakes up on a moving cart, hands bound together and three other guys accompanying her just as incapacitated as she is. She groans, rubbing awkwardly the back of her head where the bump is and cursing whoever is responsible to Oblivion and back.

A pretty blond sits in front of her, he talks all the way from the Pass of the Pale to the city they’re just approaching, the thief is just as chatty and bickers unstoppably about his innocence all the while blaming the soldiers—the Stormcloak rebels—for rousing the Imperials from their lazy handling of things. The only one silent is the guy beside her, and understandably so; is widely known that Ulfric Stormcloak is able to use the thu’um, so the soldiers gagged him.

“Is Blondie always so chatty?” She asks at Ulfric with a smirk, looking at the Jarl sideways from where she sits slumped against the wooden cart. He snorts and rolls his eyes, meanwhile Blondie smiles with light pink smearing his cheeks.

Then they stop, Ulfric and Blondie—Ralof, the man calling his name out loud from the list supplies—walks away when they’re called, the thief poor sod tries to run and the archers make quick work of him, the captain has a really nasty attitude, the guy with the list is too cute for a soldier and then they’re all standing watching a man get his head separated from his body in a messy, gorish, and disgusting show.

The roar that reverberates from the mountains awakens old memories in her.

… Weren’t those rotten oversized lizards extinguished? She panics internally.

She’s tensing her muscles, preparing her body to roll to the side and evade the axe, the hangman has his weapon held high with both hands, the captain boot on her back is lacking the previous pressure onto her sore muscles, she’s counting the seconds until moving and then, with another loud roar and the screaming of men all around, a big black mass of growling fury lands on the tower in the middle of the village.

Her eyes widen, her breath leaves her suddenly and heavily, her blood is flowing rapidly through her veins with adrenaline, her mind is jumbled with a thousand thoughts and there’s only one thing that repeats again and again, but it makes no sense because this monster… this abomination, _Alduin_  shouldn’t be here!

The dragon looks directly at her for a moment, she swears! And when his big mouth, full of razor-sharp fangs, opens, the sky rips open and spits fire onto their heads.

###### 21 Last Seed, 4E 201, Whiterun, Skyrim

Before Ninada escaped, her children made a dramatic appearance, evading the falling debris on fire.

K’arr, the oldest at 207 years old, is a Cathay Khajiit. He is as tall as her, has startling green eyes and a soft black fur with silvery patterns that can only be appreciated when the light catches him just so, like his siblings, and he is the jokester of the family.

R’sien is a year and a half younger that K’arr and an Alfiq Khajiit. He may look like a common house cat but is the sneakiest of the lot and the most serious too. He likes to perch on Ninada’s shoulders or Ri’irr’s who is the youngest by five years of difference with K’arr and a Senche-Raht Khajiit; his big and imposing form is completely incongruent with his cuddly predisposition.

She couldn’t understand their meowing, obviously, but after all the years of caring and looking after them, she understands their mannerisms and can hold a conversation with them easily.

K’arr and R’sien jump from the shadows, one helps her up and into the tower with the Stormcloaks hiding inside while the other cuts her bindings while perched on her back. With her arms free, she hugs them tightly to her, happy to see them but also worried for Ri’irr.

“Mother, how do you propose we get him inside these walls with his size?” K’arr questions her sanity with a raised eyebrow, R’sien meowing from her back agreeing with his brother’s words. “He’s waiting for us outside, of course.”

Ninada notices the weird looks the Nords give them, but be it for the way her Khajiit children talk or because K’arr called her mother, she doesn’t know. Anyway, she ignores them, reassured that her last kid is fine, and prompts them to find a way out of the burning village.

They escape the damn dragon with the help of Hadvar, the friendly imperial soldier; then they find Ri’irr outside and rest on Hadvar’s relatives' place for two days before she decides to go to Whiterun and talk to the Jarl there, like the blacksmith wanted. It is on her way to the palace, so no harm, right…?

**Wrong!**

Hadvar and Ninada gather supplies for their journey and before twilight, they’re ready to part to Whiterun. With Ri’irr taking care of the heavy lifting, they get there in no time. Once at Whiterun he takes the cart to Solitude and she walks the stairs up to Dragonsreach alone, the Nords distrust Khajiit and don’t let them inside their cities, much to her fury, so her children wait outside the gates, by the stables.

Her dwindling good mood flies away quickly once there. The Jarl was grateful for the information of course but then he decided to send her to help the court wizard. The mage’s attitude almost made her flame his arse.

She didn’t want to do it, but because her children insisted, they walked back to Riverwood. Then, up at Bleak Falls Barrow. On the mountain they killed a bunch of mercenaries, K’arr retrieves a golden claw for Lucan back at Riverwood and Ninada pocketed the Dragonstone for Farengar. So many inconveniences and draugrs for a measly stone.

They walked once more into Whiterun, or well, she did. It was night so she brought a light meal for all of them at the Bannered Mare and went back outside to eat and rest with her kids; the next day she retrieved the stone to the mage and planned to leave only to find herself tied again into the Jarls’ plans.

As always, her children got excited at the prospect of fighting dangerous things. So off they went, to fight against a damn dragon, who was disappointingly easy to confront.

Tired, dirty and with memories of the Oblivion gates and fire flashing on the front of her mind, she walked into Dragonsreach… again. The guards were so enthralled by the possibility of her being the Dragonborn, that they gave her children free access into the city without a second thought.

With her age and the amount of money she made over the years, gold isn’t really a necessity—more so now that she has free access to the family coffers—but is very much more welcome than a sissy title and a bodyguard… She doesn’t even need a bodyguard!

She glares at the man with cold eyes who seems surprised at her reaction, the housecarl glanced suspiciously at her and K’arr who laughs behind her, while Avenicci fidgets in place being the sole focus of R’sien’s firm stare perched on Ninada’s left shoulder.

“You don’t even know who I am,” Ninada tells the Jarl, her incredulity clear on her voice. K’arr guffaws once more, his only support point being the hand on Ninada’s other shoulder.

“You’ve helped Whiterun greatly this day against a most dangerous enemy, I don’t need to know more than that. You’re an asset to this city.”

Ninada sighs softly and only with the help of decades of practice dancing in the courts of the Thalmor and Cyrodiil she’s capable of reign in the loud laugh that tries to bubble out of her, her self control fighting hard to maintain the composure her son lacks behind her.

“Jarl Balgruuf, forgive me but I’ll have to decline this title.” Avenicci gasp and the dunmer looks ready to burst into a rant she’s sure, but the Jarl raises a hand to calm them.

“Surely you have a reason for this? Not everyday a young girl has the opportunity to hold such an important title...” he asks with a raised eyebrow.

A laugh, thankfully not as boisterous as her body wished, escapes her tight hold. “Let me introduce myself properly first,” she raises a finger at him and clearing her throat she stands straight, voicing out loud the thing she’s been hiding from, for millennia, “Ninada Ulvls. And since the passing of my father the nine of Heartfire this past year, Queen of the Falmer. Also, I’m 1785 years old and have of a young girl what you have of a toddler, Jarl Balgruuf.”

“Impossible…a snow Elf?” Mumbles the Dunmer nest to the Jarl with wide eyes.

“Snow elves?” Avenicci asks like the ignoramus he is.

“My apologies, your Majesty,” the Jarl says with a bow of his head this time and expertly smooths the surprise from his face. “I was ignorant of this. We though the Snow Elves an extinct race…”

“Ninada will do, Jarl Balgruuf, the title is more because of tradition than anything else. We’re but a few left to be properly considered a real kingdom anymore. But you must understand that I lack the time to deal with a title in your hold when I have more pressing matters to attend and my own people to look after.”

“I understand, but you’re still welcome in Whiterun after the help you’ve provided. And about the Greybeards...”

“They will have to wait, I’m afraid. My sister has been overseeing everything for me, but I came to deal with the mess father left and plan to do right to my people before dealing with anything the Tongues may have to say to me. I still have to take father’s bones to the Chantry of Auri-el and that only will take a month or more, depending on how many Betrayed I have to deal with on the way.”

“Betrayed?” Asks Irileth.

“What you commonly refer as Falmer are the mer who willingly became slaves to the Dwemer after King Harald killed almost all of them on the attack at Lake Honrich, they were betrayed and became what they are today because of the poison the Dwemer feed them. My people are the last Falmer and we survived because we kept apart from the world, living at peace on the mountains where the Auri-el Chantry is, until the Betrayed became so rabid that they attacked even us,” she said, shaking her head.

The fate of many Falmer, to this day, makes her thank her great-grandfather for deciding to separate from the war and stay away from the Dwemer, not that that helped much when the Betrayed attacked them in their mad rage, but at least her race survived even if they’re but a handful still alive.

Jarl Balgruuf had to order Farengar away after that, the man asked question after question unstoppably, a scholar if she ever saw one. With the promise to visit if she ever is nearby, she leaves with her children in tow.

###### 23 Last Seed, 4E 201, Windhelm, Skyrim

The cart leaves them at Windhelm and she has to walk all the way to the palace, passing the mountains and into Morrowind’s borders.

White snow falls from the sky, thick clouds cover it and the wind blows keeping snowflakes dancing on the air, she holds her cloak tightly against her body and her feet keeps working step by step to carry her to the palace, she already can see the bare columns and two soldiers guarding the path from the distance.

The Khajiit following behind her take special spraisal of the building as they approach, enthralled by the distinctively different type of construction in comparison to most of the ones they are used to in the rest of Tamriel.

Memories rushing to the forefront of her mind, make Nina’s eyes shine with restrained tears.

 

###### • 1600 years ago… •

_“Girls!”_

_…_

_“Girls wake up!”_

_...something shoves my shoulder and I try to push the hand away but it’s persistent. Light brightens the dark room and I cover my eyes groaning at the disturbance._

_“What is it, mommy?”_

_I roll on my bed away from the sleepy voice of Niraneris, I was having a good dream so I don’t want to wake up yet._

_Noise raises from outside and suddenly the doors burst open with too much force and heavy footsteps sound around the room. I sit on my bed, annoyed, and rub the sleep out of my eyes to see mother shoving clothes on a knapsack, her usual impeccable self, commonly clad in fine silks, wears now servant clothes and startles me out of my usual lazy routine for the mornings._

_“Mother? What is happening?”_

_“There is no time, wake up your sister and dress. Clothes are on that chair. Hurry up, we are leaving.”_

_She leaves then, two soldiers stand inside the room and one of the servants takes her to the wardrobe to start changing her on the clothes left for her. Clothes that are nothing like her usual ones, these are old and stained and most certainly not hers. She makes no move to stop the servant from finishing helping her put on the strange dress, if mother wanted her to use these clothes it must be for a reason._

_“Nira wake up… Nira!”_

_“I’m up…”_

_“Something is wrong, hurry up.”_

_“Ok, ok, I’m going.”_

_They dress and walk hurriedly to the entrance hall where their father is gathered with a group of men talking and their mother waits for them and gives orders to the servants._

_Suddenly a strong shock strucks the palace, the floor and walls crack under the strain and the ceiling’s hinges groan, many elves fall to the floor and she hugs her mother scared. They recover from that when a second wave, stronger this time, send things crashing to the floor and dust and stone falls from the walls._

_“Time to leave everyone!” Her father shouts and the soldiers usher them out, “Quickly!”_

_Once outside Ninada notices that the sun isn’t even on the sky yet, the stars line the firmament, Masser and Secunda brightens their path. She can hear in the distance the sound of weapons clashing, she can feel in the air the pressure and ozone from the heavy use of magic, she even smells smoke and a disgusting stench of burnt meat. On the distance, she notices the shadows of soldiers fighting crouched creatures…_

_So, the Betrayed finally found them._

_What follows is a bloody and extremely frightening experience for Ninada, her twin Niraneris and their little sister Taarie. Many soldiers die under the poisonous blades of the Betrayed, servants try to help but many of them also die. The light of the day passes and night falls once more when they stop fighting and running for their lives, mother is hurt, father is exhausted, only a handful of soldiers and servants survived, she and her sisters are exhausted and falling asleep on their feet. But finally, father lets them rest once they find a cave, Ninada falls asleep hugging her sisters on a corner mere moments after sitting near them._

_The following couple of days are almost as exhausting but at least no more fights with the Betrayed happen, bandits and wild beast appear and are quickly dealt with. They walk for a long while, until one day father stops and looks around appraisingly, after a nod to them everyone settles down._

_The lack of proper food and potions takes away many of their injured people, Nina and Nira look around for plants to help the alchemist but there is so much that two little ten years old can do. Along the many that died of injuries is their mother who got hurt taking a poisoned arrow aimed to father’s back._

###### • The Present •

 

Nina can clearly remember the first and last time she stood on that same path.

Anger and frustration were all she could feel last time, she had to defy her father’s wishes to leave and have some freedom and now that she’s back she can’t even say sorry as she had planned for decades now, because he was murdered...

She will find her father’s assassin and use every bit of knowledge she’s gained, in making them feel excruciating pain, before allowing them the relief of death’s embrace.

The guards recognise her even after a millennium and she walks in with no problem after explaining the presence of the Khajiit with her.

The sight of the throne voided of her father's presence stops her in her tracks. Memories flow on her mind, his caring smile, his loving embrace, the jokes he used to tell her and her sisters all the time who weren’t funny but so absurd that made them laugh anyway… even his angry screaming the last time they talked.

“Sister!”

A blurry dot of red and white tackles her and she wraps her arms around Taarie who sobs on her arms.

“I’m here now,” she said reassuringly. But who is she trying to reassure her sister or herself? She doesn’t know.

All the regret she felt for years was exacerbated with the notice of her father's demise and now, here on the safety of her home, she cries. She allows herself to cry, once more, after two hundred years.

* * *

Once Taarie got over their emotional encounter she asked lots and lots of questions, her sister wanted to forget for a moment about the horrible reality and asked for her sister’s tales of adventures and the Khajiit with her.

So Ninada tells her.

She revealed to her sister how different the culture on other countries are, what is like exploring Dwemer ruins, travelling the beautiful lands of the Summerset Isles, the dangerous but exciting fights against Mehrunes Dagon’s forces during the Oblivion crisis, her almost-husband Latvus, travelling with Khajiit at Elsweyr, sailing with Argonians everywhere, her last dalliance with a lovely Altmer and the many amounts of crazy that was Helgen. But the most important thing of all, how her adopted children ended up with her and learning all different kinds of magicks from all around Nirn… and maybe even Oblivion, but she doesn’t mention that to her little sister who is a devoted believer of Auri-el as far as she knows.

###### 27 Last Seed, 4E 201, Snow Elf Palace, Morrowind

Ninada sits on the throne with the crown in place and her people surrounding her, Taarie sits to her right with a smile on her face. She only hopes that a millennium of marauding around Nirn, spelunking on Dwemer and Ayleid ruins, and mixing with all kinds of people, from the nobles of the courts to the servants, of Alinor and Cyrodiil has prepared her for leading the remnants of the Snow Elves civilisation.

Her council is formed by the sisters Tahla, Faire, and Sondryn, in charge of managing the expenses on the palace and providing it with potions, weapons/enchantments and recording history respectively. They’re the oldest females, a thousand years older than her.

The more pressing issue they discussed after the crowning party, was the low influx of coin. With the eruption of Red Mountain and many Dunmer refugees living at Windhelm, the hostile attitude of the Nords became worse if possible, making business with them became even dangerous. The Khajiit caravan leader is Ma’dran and makes detours to their palace from time to time and they buy the things they need, but without coin, the Khajiit won’t do business with them.

The second issue presented to Nina was the absence of males in their group as they mostly died protecting them against the Betrayed over the years. With her, the seventeen elves living at the palace are females, the last king couldn’t take another woman after the death of the Queen and their future as a race became even more perilously close to extinction.

Many survivors that travelled around Nirn visited from time to time, but only two males appeared at their doors in the last couple of centuries with the joyous conception of one of their youngest females, Anya. They hoped she could contact the males she met on her travels to visit them, even if they don’t plan to stay.

Good thing they’re among the largest lived race of Mer out there or the Snow Elf race might as well have been extinct many times over already.

And the third thing they wanted to discuss was… heirs. At this point, Ninada was so tired that she gave the sisters a glare and a growl before leaving the room in a hurry.

In her room awaited, K’arr who was already sleeping under the covers, R’sien at the foot of the bed also asleep and Ri’irr to the left and over a carpet. She kisses the three of them on their noses and falls into her bed, surrounded by the warmth of her children.

###### 30 Last Seed, 4E 201, Deep Folk Crossing, Skyrim

Ninada and R’sien arrived at the Reach after two days of travelling. She needs to leave the late King’s ashes in Auriel's Chantry. But, when they get closer to the place where the stairs down the mountain should be, only ruins greet them, the road down the cave beyond Deep Folk Crossing lays collapsed and the only remnant of the Chantry course ever being there is a chest for offerings right after the bridge.

With the sun quickly setting on the horizon, they walk down and along the river, to the north, and to Darkfall Cave. If anything, she hopes the wayshrines for the priests initiates are still protected by the souls of old Priests of Auriel so she can use that path to reach the Chantry.

The dark of the night falls around them and Masser and Secunda illuminates their path. They reach the cave a few hours later.

Walking around a little waterfall, they find a giant Frostbite spider. She dislikes those things. The way inside the cave was completely covered in spiderwebs, disgusting! At the end of the tunnel, a precarious bridge leads to a dead end. Ninada looks around for a way to continue, but finds nothing, R’sien meows and sends a look down the bridge where water flows into a curious cave.

“Do you think that's the way forward?” She dubiously asks and he meows again, jumping up her shoulders while she backtracks her footsteps. “I don’t know… maybe there’s a door or something that we missed-” and the bridge gives away under her feet before they reach the other side.

A loud and girlish scream leaves her lips, the Khajiit snarls and his claws sunk on her flesh, both falling on the water seconds after, getting swept by the rapids.

She gasps for breath and notices, before falling down a waterfall, a group of giant Frostbites falling from their nests after them, a second waterfall later lands them on shallow waters. Ninada quickly prepares to fight the spiders, thankful that she’s still alive, and R’sien shakes off the water with angry hisses.

With the water all around and her proclivity for ice spells, she freezes the currents and the spiders dance over it out of balance making it easier to kill them. A few steps ahead, two more spiders attack. Annoyed, she shots an ice projectile to their heads, ending them quickly. They keep walking with a magelight guiding them and a flame on her left hand warming them up, killing more things and going down a pronounced slope where a camp is settled.

There is a bedroll, a campfire ready with wood prepared to the side, a chest and… a dead woman. A note on her body explains that a troll killed her. Ugh, trolls.

She lits the campfire and sits on the bedroll, R’sien cleaning his fur on her lap. There are some eggs that she cooks and eats with her son, along with some bread she had on her backpack. But, with the warning of the trolls around, she prefers to keep going before they find her. She is tired after a long day, but safety comes first. When they are completely dry, they continue down the cave.

As they descend the long corridor, fog cuts the view and it gets colder, she shivers and warms her hands with more fire. In the end, the cave opens up on a big room, with a lake, and trolls on the distance making noise.

They walk around the lake, killing the trolls that attack them on sight, avoiding the bones littering the floor and the awful stench of death, until they come to a campsite where a bright fire burns. Getting closer, she is surprised to recognise the face of the Falmer standing there.

Gelebor raises his eyes to look at the new visitor and smiles pleasantly surprised.

“Nina? Is that really you, my friend?”

She runs up to him and hugs him tightly, R’sien jumps down, disliking the closeness with the other male.

“I’m so happy to see you, Gel. I was worried when I found the visitors' path collapsed, I’m happy to see that you are safe,” she gets a good look at him then, he is as handsome as always, but he seems to be too thin to her liking. “Have you been eating, Gel? You are so thin!”

“Don’t worry, I’m fine,” he smiles at her warmly. “More so now, is good to see a familiar face after so long.”

“Are you alone here?” Nina asks looking around.

A lonely bedroll rest to the side with a few books and food, the wayshrine to the other surrounded by water, the fire they stand by in the middle.

“Yes, unless you count the Betrayed that try to attack me from time to time…” His sad eyes are cast down with a frown distorting his pretty face, “And Vyrthur.”

“Your brother?”

“He is… different. Cold, distant, and…”

“Yes?” Ninada looks expectantly at him.

“He never looks as though he's in pain or under duress. He just... stands there and watches, as though waiting.”

“Well, that’s weird.”

Gelebor changes the subject then, “Why are you here anyway? Not that I mind…” and he leads her to sit on the bedroll, cutting an apple in pieces and offering her a few slices.

“Thank you. I need to visit the Chantry actually. I hoped to use the wayshrines to reach it since the other way is not an option anymore,” the apple taste sweet on her mouth, Gelebor nods with a pensive look.

“Maybe… but, you’ll have to confront Vyrthur once you get there.”

“What do you mean? Your brother?! Why?” Nina asks with dread.

“The kinship between us is gone. I don't understand what he's become, but he's no longer the brother I once knew. It was the Betrayed... they did something to him, I just don't know why Auri-El would allow this to happen. They swept into the Chantry without warning and began killing everyone without pause. Since then, Vyrthur has kept to himself, attacking anyone that gets closer to the Chantry after closing off the wayshrines.”

“And what? You think killing him is the solution?” She asks softly but cold.

He looks elsewhere with a shrug, “I don’t see how else you could get in there otherwise.”

Nina sighs, too much in the same day she thinks morosely and puts an arm around his waist hugging him.

“Let’s sleep, tomorrow morning I’ll go open the wayshrines and think about it with a fresh mind. There has to be another way, there are few of us as it is without us starting to kill each other off.”

“You can have the bed-”

“No, I have another, don’t worry. Night Gel.”

She puts her bedroll next to Gelebor, around the fire, and gets in with a sigh. R’sien makes a place for himself next to the warmth of her stomach and under the covers. She notices Gelebor watching with a smile and remembers that she never introduce them, snorting.

“By the way, this is my son, R’sien.” She tells him, enjoying the outraged look of his. “He’s the middle sibling, the elder is K’arr and the youngest is Ri’irr. I adopted them 200 years ago, they were on a crumbling house on the outskirts of Cyrodiil, after the war with Mehrunes Dagon.”

“Oh,” he gasps, clearly relieved. “I never expected you to become a mother.”

“Me neither,” Nina shrugs and lovingly caresses the purring R’sien, “But sometimes we don’t get to choose. It was love at first sight.”

Gelebor laughs and wishes them goodnight.

###### 31 Last Seed, 4E 201

"The only way to get to my brother is by following in the Initiates' footsteps and travelling from wayshrine to wayshrine just as they did. The first lay at the end of the Darkfall Passage, a cavern that represents the absence of enlightenment."

“Absence of enlightenment…” Nina mumbles and snorts, one of her friends became the vessel to Akatosh on Nirn and the other became Sheogorath. How can she lack enlightenment when she’s literally met two… wait, three if you count Sanguine; she’s met three Et’ada. Lack of enlightenment her round and soft backside.

 "There are five wayshrines in total, spread far apart across the Chantry. Good luck, my friend."

She passes through the portal and into the cave system after he gives her the ‘Initiate’s Ewer’. She has to fill the fancy pitcher with water from the five wayshrines to open the door to the Chantry. What a hassle.

Walking along the cavern to each wayshrine, takes her an entire day, each.

She also had to fight dragons on the way to one of them. Dragons! As in plural dragons, two of them to be exact, at the same damn time!

After killing two dragons, many spiders, trolls, frost giants, and so many Betrayed that she feels sick. She reaches the Chantry with the Ewer full and ready to open the door for her and R’sien.

The inside is full of frozen Betrayed and hideous chaurus, creepy.

She walks along the chambers, trying to follow the path she knows leads to the balcony where the ashes are commonly laid, but the walls are crumbled and ice has consumed many passages. Is a sad view, her kin used to maintain this place impeccable once and now is a frozen ruin.

Walking along the only available path, she reaches the upper chamber, that is completely frozen too. And sitting on a makeshift ice throne lays Vyrthur.

"Did you really come here expecting to claim Auriel's Bow?” He asks, looking at her while collapsed on his ice throne looking bored out of his mind.

“Auriel’s what?” Nina mumbles under her breath.

He goes on then, rambling about prophecies and the futilities of her actions, Nina doesn’t really understand but when she tries to talk with him the ground shakes and suddenly the ceiling is coming down on her while Betrayed awakens and attack.

She fights them three times, stopped by Vyrthur’s rambling for moments, and finally, they are on the open, there is no more ceiling and the Betrayed are all dead.

"How dare you act against me. I was the Arch-Curate of Auri-El, girl. I had the ears of a god!"

"Until the Betrayed corrupted you. Yes, yes. I've heard the story."

"Gelebor and his kind are easily manipulated fools, but I used to have a better opinion of you. Look into my eyes, Nina. You tell me what I am."

She is surprised he actually seems to recognise her now, and then takes a more thorough look into his eyes… "You're... you're a vampire? But Auriel should have protected you!"

"The moment I was infected by one of my own Initiates, Auri-El turned his back on me. I swore I'd have my revenge, no matter what the cost."

"You want to take revenge... on a god?" Ninada breaks down laughing then, this is too much. How delusional can he get? Seriously. And scoffing back at him, his indignant look does nothing to scare her. “I’ve seen first hand what They are capable of, Vyrthur. Do you really think this pathetic tantrum will accomplish anything? You are so delusional.”

He lounges at her then, anger wrote on each line of his face, his claw-like fingers poised to attack, but at the last second she throws a light-blue shot at him and he is paralyzed on his position.

“If you really wanted a reaction you should have visited while he had a vessel, you know.” She comments nonchalantly, noticing the curiosity etched on the movement of his eyebrows, “Oh, you didn’t hear? Well, it isn’t really surprising, what with you holed up here all these years and all.” He grunts deeply on his throat. “Ok, ok, calm down, I’m getting to it.”

R’sien meows and she takes a piece of meat from her backpack, leaving it on a plate for him to eat. Following suit, she extends the bedroll and sits down on it with an apple on hand.

“A few years ago, before the end of the third era, there was this crazy group of followers of Mehrunes Dagon called the Mythic Dawn, headed by Mankar Camoran. This cult murdered Uriel Septim VII, his sons, and orchestrated the Oblivion crisis, stealing the Amulet of Kings in the process to avoid being stopped.

During the Crisis, many portals to Dagon’s realm opened along Cyrodiil and other parts of Tamriel. Daedric armies attacked indiscriminately everywhere and everyone. But, Cael—a friend of mine—met the king before he was assassinated and was trusted with finding his unknown heir to save us all.

I met him while fighting to close one of the portals and became good friends and later ended up helping with his tasks. We found Uriel’s son, Martin Septim. After recovering the Amulet of Kings, Martin became the vessel of Auriel, to be able to defeat Dagon and vanish his forces once more back to Oblivion, while Cael fought against Mankar. I was a witness, along with some friends, to the power Martin held then and watched him put an end to the war.”

Then, another wayshrine emerges from the floor, Gelebor walking out of it.

“I didn’t hear fighting anymore,” he whispers while carefully walking around Vyrthur’s frozen form, “So I thought it safe to approach.” He sits down beside her, eating the cheese she offered. “What kind of spell is that?” He asks looking at his brother.

“I visited Hammerfell half a millennium or so ago, they’ve got interesting things on the few spells they’ve created. Redguards are more weapon oriented than anything, but when they do something, they do it right. Neat, isn’t it?”

Vyrthur growls at them and Nina gives him an eye-roll, “Get over yourself. You became a vampire, so what? It isn’t the end of the world!”

“He is what?!” Gelebor asks startled, standing and getting a good look at his brother’s eyes. “No! Auriel should have protected you! How did this happen?”

Nina shrugs when he looks at her, “Your idea is as good as mine.”

“Meooowr.”

“Hum, what?” Nina asks looking down at R’sien.

He makes a series of gestures and sounds that end up with an eye-roll, the brothers don’t understand what the Khajiit tries to say, but Nina does.

“Oh! That is a good idea. Why didn’t I remember that?” Nina says with a facepalm and looking up at Vyrthur asks, “Do you want to be healed out of your vampirism? Blink once for a yes,” and Vyrthur, after the shock passes, blinks. “Good,” Nina chirps with a wide smile, “I’ll release you from the spell and we’ll talk about what we need to do, but no funny business,” she warns with her finger pointing at his nose and seriously, “I will crush you like a bug if you try anything. I’ve fought against daedra before. Not even vampirism can make you stronger than one of them.”

Nina cleans the breadcrumbs from her lap and stands, while Gelebor gives her a funny look. She touches Vyrthur’s forehead with a finger and stands back while the mer falls to the floor.

“You’ll be a little sore for a few hours,” Nina warns.

“Is it true?” the mer rasps roughly, “Can you really heal me from this cursed state?” He looks up at her with hope.

“Sure thing, dear, I just need a Black Soul Gem. You’ve got one of those?”

Gelebor eyes widen, “Black?”

“Yes.”

“There should be some on the offerings chambers at the entrance,” Vyrthur says, standing on wobbly feet.

“Awesome, just let me do the thing I came here for and we are set.” And glaring at them before going to the balcony at their back, she says, “No fighting you two.”

Vyrthur erases the glare aimed at his brother immediately and raises his hands, the picture of innocence. R’sien meows from his place at her feet and she bends for him. Taking the ashes from her backpack, Ninada walks to the balcony and stands in the middle of Auriel’s symbol on the marble.

She takes the lid off of the vessel and raises the container to be at the same height as her face. She starts then mumbling an old prayer to Auri-el, on the old Falmer language.

After a few minutes, when she is reaching the end of the prayer, the cloudy sky parts and a ray of light falls directly over their patch of land. A magical wind blows, floating the ashes away. The prayer ends.

Only then, she notices, Gelebor and Vyrthur accompanying her on the chanting. She is about to turn back when a silhouette encased on golden light appears and she gasps holding a hand to her chest.

“Martin?” She asks in a sob.

He smiles and kisses her fringe, ‘Father sends his regards, sister.’ his ethereal and melodious voice says. His form explodes in a thousand golden sparkles that float around them. They look enthralled as the shiny particles attach to Vyrthur, covering their eyes when the glow harm them.

And when the light show is over, they observe in wonder as his eyes are a pale grey just like Gelebor’s.

Vyrthur isn’t a vampire anymore…

“Meow.”

“Yeah. Wow,” Ninada’s eyes fall on the little Khajiit on her left shoulder. “Do you think that your brothers had such a good time too?”

R’sien meows and Nina laughs, “No, I don’t think either.”


	2. K'arr's Adventures

When K’arr heard about the Khajiit caravans he thought it was a perfect job for him, so he offered his help to his mother. After all she’s done for them, is the least he can do to repay her for all the love she’s given him over the years. She took them under her wing when she found them on the ruins of the old house and raised them as her own cubs, she cares and loves them, she gave them all they ever wanted from the beginning when she just lost her own chosen mate herself.

Ninada is, and he thinks his sibling can agree to the same, everything for him. The perfect mother, best friend, and grounding rock.

So with confidence, he prepared all he can possibly need and alongside Ri’irr they went off to Riften, to wait for Ma’dran’s caravan to show up.

While Ri’irr hunts for his food, K’arr takes a drink at the local inn that is attended by two nice argonians. He is minding his own business when a Nord sits beside him.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before, lad.”

“Just arrived in Skyrim a few days ago actually,” he nods at Talen-Jei when he is served and digs in on his food.

“Are you looking for work then? Because I have something for you, if you’re interested, lad.”

“Depends. What have you got in mind?”

“I've got a bit of an errand to perform, but I need an extra pair of hands. And in my line of work, extra hands are well-paid.”

“What do I have to do?” K’arr asks again, seizing him up. Who is this guy? He looks too well dressed for a thief, but one never knows with them... the khajiit guess, remembering his mother’s stories of her acquaintances, back at Cyrodiil and before she adopted them.

“Simple... I'm going to cause a distraction and you're going to steal Madesi's silver ring from a strongbox under his stand. Once you have it, I want you to place it in Brand-Shei's pocket without him noticing.”

“Why plant the ring on Brand-Shei?” Definitely a thief then, he didn’t know there was a guild here too...

“There's someone that wants to see him put out of business permanently. That's all you need to know. Now, you tell me when you're ready and we'll get started.”

“Why are we doing this to Brand-Shei?” Better to be sure than sorry later, right?

“We've been contracted to make sure Brand-Shei remember not to meddle in affairs that aren't his own. Now, since we're not the Dark Brotherhood, we're not going to kill him, we're just going to make sure he sits in the prisons for a few days.”

Smiling, K’arr shakes hands with his new best buddy in town, good to know the guys put a limit in their ‘jobs’ here too, he’ll leave the Brotherhood for his mother, that’s more her thing than his. The Nord introduces himself as Brynjolf and after arranging the time for the scam the next day, K’arr leaves to get some rest.

Out of the city, near the lake, he finds Ri’irr cleaning his bloody fur.

“Did you had a good meal, brother?” Ri’irr meows back, “I did too. I even got a job.” Ri’irr meows curious, “A guy called  Brynjolf talked to me at the inn. I think he’s with the thieves guild, dressed too fancy and all, he remembered me of mum actually.” Ri’irr gets close with a whine, demanding some petting. “Yeah, I miss her too, but we’ll see her soon enough. Let’s get some sleep, brother.”

The next day K’arr wakes up with the sound of the horses getting excited at the stables. With a wide yawn, he thinks that maybe the guy over there is feeding them. He makes a sandwich with bread, cheese and dried meat for breakfast, Ri’irr pins him down and purrs on his sleep, waking up a moment later because of the smell of K’arr’s food.

“Morning, brother,” Ri’irr huffs and yawns, “I’ll be off to take care of that job I told you about last night, but I’ll be back for lunch.” Ri’irr whines and licks his brother’s ears, “Of course I’ll bring you a sweetroll.”

He walks up to the city walls with Ri’irr looking after him. The people are already up and going already, inside the walls. When he walks into the inn, Brynjolf is there having some food.

“Ready for today, lad?”

“As I’ll ever be. How are we going to do it then?”

“Simple... I'm going to cause a distraction and you’ll do your thing. Do you remember what your part is, right?”

“Yes, yes.” K’arr and Brynjolf stand up and leave the inn.

The stalls on the city square are full of live, Brynjolf leaves for his own while K’arr takes a look at some armour around, acting as if they don’t know each other. Brynjolf starts calling for their attention with a big red potion bottle in hand, talking about some kind of… ‘Falmer elixir’...

Mother would get her hackles raised for that if she were there right that second, Brynjolf is lucky she isn’t around…

Madesi’s stall is the one closest to the blacksmith so, while everyone is listening to Brynjolf’s bull, K’arr tiptoes to it making sure the guards around don’t notice him. The flap of the stall is way harder to open that the strongbox itself, but both are a piece of cake for his abilities, mother taught him well all aspects of life… and death.

Once he has the ring on his paws, he sneaks near Brand-Shei who is with his back to the armour stall. Deftly, he sneaks a paw through the boxes and into the Dunmer’s pocket, leaving the incriminating evidence behind.

K’arr tiptoes away and reappears a while later, near the blacksmith and behind Brynjolf; nowhere close to the Dunmer that is getting surrounded by guards.

As Brynjolf ends his diversion and Brand-Shei is taken away, the people dispersed back to minding their own business.

“Looks like I choose the right person for the job. And here you go... your payment, just as I promised. The way things have been going around here, it's a relief that our plan went off without a hitch.“

“What's been going on?” K’arr drawls, curious.

“Bah. My organization's been having a run of bad luck, but I suppose that's just how it goes. But never mind that, you did the job and you did it well. Best of all, there's more where that came from... if you think you can handle it.”

“I can handle it,” K’arr pronounces with a sardonic smile.

“All right, then. Let's put that to the test. The group I represent has its home in the Ratway beneath Riften... a tavern called the Ragged Flagon. Get there in one piece and we'll see if you've really got what it takes.”

“The sewers?” K’arr asks surprised and disgusted, “Really? You realized I’m a khajiit, right? Are you trying to send me to my end by going down to that foul smelling place?”

“Well, aren’t you such a delicate daisy,” Brynjolf taunts with a smirk, “Is that all that is going to take to stop you, lad?”

K’arr hisses at him, “I’ll see you down there.”

After lunch with Ri’irr, who enjoys his desert and licks his brother’s fur in thanks, K’arr goes down to the Ratway in search of the Ragged Flagon. The pungent smell almosts drives him away, but the opportunity is too good to pass up. Late in the evening, after getting lost more than once on the depths of the smelling labyrinth, he finally finds the tavern.

“Well, well... colour me impressed, lad. I wasn't certain I'd ever see you again!”

“Getting here was easy,” after getting so used to the smell that he now believes his nose is permanently damaged anyhow...

“Reliable and headstrong? You're turning out to be quite the prize! So... now that I've whetted your appetite with our little scheme at the market, how about handling a few deadbeats for me?”

He gets another job then, to claim the gold that three others own the guild. But as it was late, he goes back to his brother to get some food, sleep, and a well-deserved sniff of clean air.

The next day he easily takes care of his next job without violence. Breaking an old dwemer urn turns Bersi putty in his hands, just like Haelga after threatening her statue of Dibella; when he goes into the inn though, Keerava is more than pleased to give him the money so he can leave quickly and without a fight, gossip is a wonderful thing, and damn fast in Skyrim apparently.

K’arr is inducted into the guild after that, Brynjolf is very proud of finding him and boasts to everyone who cares to listen to him in the Flagon, going as far as to buying him a drink as a welcoming gift.

He is given a new assignment by Mercer and a new armour by Tonillia. So, the 1st of Heartfire starts wonderfully good for K’arr; he’s got a new and free outfit, a job he can enjoy, free lodging, and a kickass secret entrance to boot.

He steals what he was asked from Goldenglow and burns down three beehives before anyone notices he’s ever been there. But if some septims and expensive things found their way into his pockets on the way, it’s totally not his fault...

That evening, he arrives at the lake’s shore, to find his brother accompanied by Ma’dran’s caravan. Good, it was time already.

With his guild armour still on, K’arr gets recognized as a thief and Ma’dran opens up negotiations with him, but only him for now. The streak of bad-luck giving the guild a bad reputation even with the caravans. He shrugs it off, for now, happy to break a deal with them anyway. Ma’dran is happy to know that the Snow Elves residing beyond Windhelm have now money to pay for things and agrees to travel over there once more.

Bright and early the next day, he goes to talk with Maven because she requested his assistance. Like this, he finds himself travelling to Riverwood once more, to ‘talk’ with some guy named Mallus Maccius.

###### 5 Hearthfire, 4E 201, The Ragged Flagon, Cistern

“Word on the street is that poor Sabjorn has found himself in Whiterun's prison. How unfortunate for him.”

“Yet very fortunate for Maven,” adds K’arr sassily.

“Exactly! Now you're beginning to see how our little system works. Maven sent word that you discovered something else while you were out there. Something important to the Guild?”

“The same symbol from Goldenglow was involved. I’d say that someone's trying to take us down by driving a wedge between Maven and the Guild.”

“This is beyond coincidence, certainly. First Aringoth and now Sabjorn...”

“Is there anything we can do?”

“Mercer thinks he knows a way to identify this new thorn in our side. He wants to meet with you right away, and if I were you I'd hurry, I've never seen him this angry before.”

Later, while talking with Mercer, K’ar mentions ‘all our eggs in one basket’, and the man gets suspiciously defensive.

“Look, in case you hadn't noticed, these aren't the glory days of the Guild. We've lost more clients in the last decade than I'd care to count, but Maven's stuck with us throughout the entire ordeal. I'll be damned if I'm going to lose her to... well, to whatever they are.”

Something stinks for K’arr’s nose, and it’s way worse than the sewers.

On his way out of the city, Brynjolf accompanies him.

“I can't believe Gulum-Ei is mixed up in all this; that Argonian couldn't find his tail with both hands. Don't get me wrong, he could scam a beggar out of his last septim... but he's no mastermind.”

K’arr glances sideways at Brynjolf, thinking hard, “What drove you into this life, Brynjolf?” The khajiit asks, walking out of the doors leading to the stables.

Brynjolf’s face is shadowed by sadness and grief then, “I was but a kid, living off of scraps at the Solitude docks for many years when I met Gallus, the last Guild Master. He taught me to steal to survive, along with… Karliah. They are the only parents I’ve ever known. Anyway,” he says shaking off the gloom, “when I reached fifteen he tested my skills, I passed, and got inducted. There’s not much more to it.”

K’arr nods, humming. “I like you Brynjolf-” he says and laughs at the startled ‘deer caught in headlights’ look the man gives him, “and I’d like to think I can trust you, so I’m going to give you some advice for the sake of this tentative friendship we have going,” Brynjolf attention is fully set on his words. “That guy, Mercer, I don’t like him,” he raises his hands, placating his somewhat friend. “Let me finish. I’ve been taught lots of things since I was a cub, because my mother is wonderful like that and highly skilled in many things. So believe me when I say that I can recognise bullshit when I hear it and Mercer didn’t stop spewing it, every time we talked.”

He gives a pointed look at his friend then, stopping before the khajiit campsite, far away enough that they are out of hearing range. “As I said, I like you Brynjolf, so I’m advising you, be careful with that man. He’s not all that he’s painted himself to be.”

“I appreciate this, lad. It’s hard to wrap it around my head, but I’ll try to be careful.” Brynjolf gives him a weird out but still grateful look, and before K’arr walks too far he asks playfully, “Also, your mother sounds like an interesting lady, is there any chance of meeting her?”

K’arr laughs and with a mischief laced voice says, “If you don’t mind that she’s 1785 years old, sure, I’ll introduce you guys.”

He leaves a baffled Brynjolf standing there and sits with his brother, enjoying a warm soup with the other khajiits.

###### 10 Hearthfire, 4E 201, Solitude, Skyrim

After resting and talking for a few days, discussing what to do, Vyrthur decided to focus on something else besides serving Auri-el. As the Chantry hasn’t seen a visitor in over a thousand years until Ninada, he decided in the end, to accompany her believing she would go back to the palace where others of his kind reside.

And she accepted his company but never broke his illusion about their destiny once they started travelling, believing he needed a good holiday. Besides, he’ll get hounded by the females once they arrive at the castle, so she thinks this will help him loosen up a bit before that.

When they arrived the day before, Vyrthur got moody and walked off, angry. But now, he seems more relaxed and open to the idea of putting it off as Nina finishes telling him the situation at the castle. She is amused, any other guy would be excited in his place, not every day you get in the position of over a dozen females offering themselves up for no-strings-attached wild sex as that is the most likely outcome once they arrive.

Vyrthur goes off by himself after breakfast and Nina exploits her free time with writing letters to her friends. Fandanyis and Girriath Caerloth are twin brothers, also Falmers, and little siblings to Latvus, her late fiance who died fighting against Dagon’s army like Nireth’s husband. The only contact they’ve maintained this past couple of centuries was through letters, they look too much like her ex-lover for her heart to bear it too soon after Latvus died, but after two hundred years she will be fine, probably…

“Corpulus,” Ninada greets paying for the breakfast, “Do you have any idea if there is a ship travelling out of Skyrim soon?”

“Out of Skyrim?” He shrugs, cleaning the countertop with a rag that’s seen better days, “Should ask that lass, Vittoria, works at the docks. She’s usually just sitting at the East Empire Company offices, if anyone knows anything about ships shoulda be her.”

“Thanks, Corpulus, I’ll do that.”

“Traitors, Civil Wars, dragons. Bah. Those troubles don't cross my doorway. So sit, relax.” he greets another customer while Nina walks out the door.

Letter in hand, Ninada walks around the docks until she finds a young girl talking with crew members with shipment at their footsteps.

“...because she hasn’t paid the tariff yet, put that wine back on the ship already and stop making me lose my time,” she said moodily to the man, who left with the crate of wine back to the ship while Nina walked up to Vittoria.

“Scuse me…” Nina calls but the woman is moving around papers and doesn’t notice her, Nina clears her throat loudly then, “Vittoria?”

“Hmm? Sorry, I was lost in thought. I'm planning my wedding, you see. So many details to work out.”

“A wedding?” Nina inquiries, it’s been so long since she attended one and she loves weddings!

“Oh, yes! My fiance, Asgeir Snow-Shod is a nice man, I couldn’t be happier. We haven’t set a date yet, but I’m sure it’ll take a while anyway, between my work with the company here and his—he is partners with Maven Black-Briar did you know?—we are quite busy.”

“I’m sure you will handle it nicely, you look like a resourceful woman.”

“Oh, thank you! You’re so nice.”

“Let me know if you need a hand, I’ve helped in many weddings before.”

“Really? Well, now that you mention it, I don’t seem to be able to find a nice dress. Do you know anyone who makes good quality ones? Here in Skyrim, it seems like they put any kind of white cloth they find and go like that to the altar. Can you believe it?”

“No!” Ninada acts shocked, all for an invite she thinks deep down. “Don’t fret, I have the solution. My friend, back at Cyrodiil, is the best seamstress you’ll ever find. The last two hundred years she clothed the Empire’s Kings so…”

Vittoria’s eyes go wild at this and with a gasp, she all but begs Ninada, “Oh my! You’re friends with Nireth! I must have one of her confections. My cousin talks wonders about her, not that he would even bother to talk about visiting for the wedding, but he has lots to say about the good taste this Bosmer woman has and how he’s never been more comfortable on his clothes. If you help me with this you’ll have my eternal gratitude! And I’ll invite you to the wedding, of course...”

“I’ll be glad to help, you’ll look radiant in your day.” Nina smiles. Yes! Got an invite♪! She mentally sings. “I didn’t know you’re the King’s cousin. How come he will not attend?”

“He has lots of things to do, I’m sure. But he could take a few days to visit and attend my wedding, you know? It isn’t like everything will fall down just because he relaxes for a few days,” her eyes roll as she says this.

“Well, I’ll send a letter to Nireth and let you know what she says. Meanwhile, I wondered if there is any ship sailing to the Summerset Isles anytime soon?”

“Oh! Let me check… Humm, yes, there is one shipment sailing the fifteen. Does this date work for you?”

“Yes, I need to send this letter…” she doesn’t finish talking when the letter is out of her hand.

“Just a letter! After how much you’re helping me with my wedding dress, let me send this for you, is the least I can do.” Vittoria puts the letter down on her desk and smiles at Nina, “Do you have any idea where this person may be found...?” she asks looking down at the address name, “Third-Counselor Athyarel!” With wide eyes, she looks up once more, “Forget it, I’m sure the courier will find Alinor’s Royal Palace easily enough.”

“Just warn whoever handles that envelope that I put a secrecy spell on it,” at her confused look Nina explains, “If someone besides the addressed mer tries to open the envelope, they’ll get stung on a random body part and I’ll get worse if they keep trying for long.”

“Wow, that is quite useful. I’ll make sure to mention it.” Vittoria says and gets back to her work.

Ninada turns around, to walk back to the city when she notices a ‘Justiciars Official Bulletin’ lying on the left corner of the countertop. She moves the skull from atop the paper and reads the notification after breaking the seal.

> _29 Last Seed, 4E 201_
> 
> _The Third-Counselor's ship has been finally located on Lostport Cavern._
> 
> _The bandits that took it surely sold everything it had so the Counselor's instructions where to put them down if anyone has the chance. As there has been no time or free resources lately to enforce this, anyone going there will be by themselves and the Thalmor will not take responsibility for their actions in any way._
> 
> _Whoever finds The Scarlett - and has the gold to restore it - may keep it if they wish. The Counselor doesn’t want to sully himself with boarding The Scarlett again after it's been contaminated by scum._
> 
> _Notified by the Third-Emissary Rulindil._

Damn, it seems that bandits stole the ship after Ninada left it at Anvil’s port. She’ll own Athyarel for it… Ugh, the mer is going to be unbearable, unless she makes it up to him somehow…

She asks for the letter from Vittoria, and writing a little note on the border of it, hopes that Athyarel isn’t too angry with her, ‘Sorry for the ship, just got the news about it being stolen. I’ll make it up to you!’ she writes on Altmer language.

And takes the notification away with her so no other Justicar tries to take action on it if they haven’t yet.

That evening, Ninada and Vyrthur are sitting at the inn, listening to the songs and drinking, when K’arr walks inside.

“Mother!” He says happily, hugging her, and looks at the other Falmer sitting beside her as they are introduced.

“Hello, dear. This is Vyrthur, remember that I told you about my distant cousins who are priests of Auri-el?”

“Ah! Yes, I remember now, nice to meet you,” they shake hands and as he sits Nina asks Corpulus for another drink.

“Likewise,” Vyrthur mumbles, he’s never been the social type.

“Is the other one around here too?” K’arr asks Ninada.

“Who? Oh! His brother? No, no, no. Gelebor made a bow to protect the wayshrines a long time ago. He’s tide to the Chantry of Auri-el for life,” Nina pouts.

“And you didn’t make that bow,” K’arr states more than questions, looking at Vyrthur.

“No,” Vyrthur shakes his head. “I’m the eldest brother, I was always supposed to leave and form a family after serving Auri-el for a while,” he shrugs.

Just then, an argonian enters the room, sitting on an alcove, where Corpulus leaves assorted food and some drinks. Ninada notices how K’arr focuses his attention on him without making it overly noticeable.

“How was your travel, son? Anything interesting happened?”

“You could say so,” K’arr drawls, “I met some interesting people where you sent me. Got a nice job too.”

“Oh?” Nina raises an eyebrow.

“I have to take care of something really quickly, be right back,” he approaches the argonian then, they talk for a moment, and then he sits back at their table but still has his attention focussed elsewhere.

R’sien jumps on his lap then, after entering from a window, and they have a conversation while Ninada takes Vyrthur up for a dance.

A few hours later, Nina leaves to look after Ri’irr. The khajiits at the caravan are welcoming and warm, commiserating her for rising three of their own with so much love. She likes them, it’s been a while since she enjoyed the company and peculiar mannerism of Khajiits.

She uses a spell that she learned on Elsweyr from a Dagi Khajiit, shrinking Ri’irr to the size of a sabercat, and they walk inside the city walls startling a few people who are still around in spite of the hour.

As Ninada is the only one who knows how to cast the spell, when Ri’irr is with his brothers he gets to stay outside of wherever they are staying; otherwise, he sleeps in the room with them in his shrunken form. She is teaching him to cast the spell on himself but so far with few results. Khajiits aren’t good at channelling magic; she discovered that the smaller members of the khajiit race like Alfiqs and Dagis have an easier time with spells than bigger khajiits like a Senche or a Pahmar, even Cathay khajiits have a hard time at casting most magicks.

When they walk inside the inn, they are quickly joined by K’arr and R’sien who left while Nina and Vyrthur danced. All five of them have dinner and retire to Nina’s room, who is the bigger one at the inn.

Vyrthur sits on a chair, with a bottle of wine at hand, and fills cups for Ninada and K’arr. “Can they drink this too?” He asks Nina, meaning R’sien and Ri’irr.

“Sure,” she shrugs, sipping from her goblet.

R’sien sits on the table with a goblet full in front of him but Ri’irr shakes his head and plops down on the carpet, meowing at Ninada.

“Ah, I forgot sorry,” she tells him. “This is Vyrthur, a distant relative. Do you remember when I told you about him and Gelebor?”

Ri’irr rolls his head to the right and the left in a cute manner, thinking, and when he remembers he huffs and rests his head on his crossed front paws.

“So, what was that all about with the argonian?” Nina asks at K’arr.

The khajiit gulps down the wine while sitting on the bed, “I met a guy at Riften, Brynjolf. He proposed me a job, something easy, really, and I may have ended up joining the… thieves guild,” he drawls, waiting for a reaction from her. When Nina only smiles, he continues, “Between doing this and that, I discovered that someone is trying to put our main supporter against us and Mercer, the guild master, so he sent me to talk with one of our contacts that got involved in all this somehow. The argonian is Gulum-Ei and apparently, Karliah has been talking him into helping her. The guild believes that she murdered Gallus, the previous guild master, but why take so many troubles in ruining our relationship with our main supporter when she doesn’t even want to keep the place she bought? Why risking showing her face again after all these years if she’s guilty? Why risk her life like this?”

“You seem to have an idea,” Nina states, knowing him.

“Well, I’ve talked with Mercer a few times, the guy is so full of shit that he stinks worse than the sewers. It wouldn’t surprise me if something else happened that he never bothered to mention. Why would Karliah risk to show up again otherwise? Because she’s after him specifically by what I got for Gulum-Ei.”

“Hmm… This doesn’t bode well,” Nina says with suspicion. “Let’s enjoy the rest of our time here, we’ll think about what to do later. I’ll definitely be accompanying you back to Riften though.”

“Oh good, Brynjolf wanted to meet you and I promised to ask.”

Really now?” Nina says sardonically.

###### 11 Hearthfire, 4E 201, Solitude, Skyrim

The night before, all of them went to sleep after talking for long hours and agreeing to a plan. Nina wants to recover The Scarlett but without knowing how many bandits and how well armed they are it’d be dangerous to go alone, so they’re all accompanying her, just to be sure, even if she thinks she can handle it.

That morning, Nina wakes early, before sunrise, and prepares her backpack. Potions she may need, scrolls, food, her clean change of clothes, a bedroll, a pair of ebony daggers, her bow and arrows, and the armour stays on the bed so she can change into it.

She loves the clothes Nireth made for her, but those dresses or underwear are hardly battle friendly, so she puts on some simple black panties and binds her chest with bandages so she can move freely without her ladies getting on the way in a fight. Then she puts on tight leather pants, that has light chainmail on the thighs. Her mid-calf black boots have scales-like silver plates, a design from a friendly blacksmith at Limoth in Black Marsh, it is good for protection and fashionable at the same time.

Next, she puts on a deep-red long-sleeved t-shirt that fits her like a glove and looking down at the handprint on her chest remembers that she’ll have to cover it while walking around the city, no need to scare the population with her Dark Brotherhood marked piece of clothing.

Chainmail covers her neck, arms, and back. Black gloves with the same scales-like plates hug her hands, the fingers though remain free, to get a better grip if she needs to hold a weapon. Also, the plates covering her knuckles are widely spaced to make place for the pointy studs that aren’t all that big but gives her punches a little bit more sting. And braces, hiding little throwing-knives between her t-shirt and chainmail—a creation of the old dwemer assassins, with them she can cut someone with huge precision and sometimes make it without her targets feeling a thing, they are that sharp.

Finally, she puts a thin silver diadem on her head, a special little thing that Latvus gifted her the last time they celebrated her birthday. The thin band has rubies and black diamonds, twelve in total, and each one has an enchantment on it; she never got to discover who made such beautiful and incredible craftsmanship, is certainly a one of a kind jewel piece.

With her hair tied on a high ponytail, she walks into K’arr’s bedroom after making sure no one is nearby. Once there, she wakes him up and borrows a wide button-up shirt from him, to cover her up until they go out of the city.

Ninada’s group start their journey after breakfast, with the sun peaking on the horizon, Ninada and R’sien on Ri’irr’s back who was once again in his usual size, while Vyrthur mounts a horse and K’arr trots in the middle of them.

When they reach Meridia’s temple, Vyrthur goes still and they get derailed from the main goal for a couple of hours.

Apparently, a necromancer took residence on the Daedra’s temple, rising spirits to serve him, and she’s pissed. As Meridia sensed the hatred that Vyrthur professes for undead creatures himself, she talked to him when they passed close to her temple and demanded his assistance.

He was a priest of Auri-el for millennia, but his hatred for the un-dead is strong so he accepts, letting them know what happened once he reacts once more as he had entered some kind of trance and never noticed.

Wolfskull Cave, where Meridia’s beacon resides, is just a few meters away. After taking care of some necromancers that were trying to rise Potema Septim under their control, they find said beacon on a big chest at the end of a secret room. And back in the temple, they destroy the undead and kill the necromancer. For the effort, Vyrthur is given Dawnbreaker, while the rest loots the septims and gems lying around.

In comparison to that first day, the rest of the journey to the cavern is uneventful.

###### 12 Hearthfire, 4E 201, Lostport Cavern, Skyrim

After sleeping on bedrolls over Meridia’s temple, the group travelled for hours, reaching Lostport with the sunset.

The noise of a multitude of people talking and moving inside let them know that there are many bandits waiting inside, but still, Nina insisted on going first. After discussing it for too long, she put on her cowl, ditched K’arr’s t-shirt and melted into the shadows without a backwards glance.

“Meowrrr.” R’sien startled Vyrthur, he was climbing up K’arr.

“Yeah, I know,” the older khajiit says, “She can take care of herself, that doesn’t mean I don’t worry,” he rolls his eyes and grabs a dagger tight on his hand, “Let’s go see if mother needs help.”

Ri’irr huffing and sitting down is the last Vyrthur sees of him before entering the cavern, following the khajiits in front of him. It seemed like their worry was really unfounded, as they walked deeper into the—quite wide—cavern the floor was covered by bodies with their throats cut and blood spilt everywhere.

At the end of the cavern, a big red and golden ship sits on the water, and the sound of a fight focus their attention on the fighting figures of a giant orc and a diminutive black silhouette that flashes from one side to the other, avoiding hits and landing her owns.

The orc with his heavy longsword is no match for the fast female and her daggers. Vyrthur looks entrance as she moves like a shadow, almost as intangible as one too, as the orc is incapable of landing one single hit. One punch unsteadiness him and he stumbles back a few steps, but recovering he notices one of his tusks broken on the floor and this enrages him. He charges with all his strength at Ninada, arms high and sword ready to cut her in two, but instead of hitting flesh he hits a wide wooden post, getting stuck after cutting a good half meter into the wood.

Nina jumps at his back from behind, legs around his pelvis and one arm around his torso while the other one drives a thin gleaming little dagger into his neck. The orc rages, trying to throw her away, he spins and stomps, grunting and losing blood; he fights a lost fight, he’s already dead.

In the end, he falls to his knees, his body losing strength as quickly as he loses blood. Ninada stands to her feet and the orc lands on the floor, dead. She cleans her blade on his clothes, calm and fresh like a daisy, not a spot of blood that he can notice landed on her. She puts the blade back from wherever she took it and her eyes land on Vyrthur for a second; a second which freezes his blood and danger sings on his head, begging him to run from the dangerous creature in front of him.

He gasps in that second without really meaning for his body to do so, Ninada looks away and the spell is broken, laugh reaches his ears from his right.

“Mother, I think you scared him,” K’arr laughs enjoying the way the mer at his left jumps.

Nina takes away the cowl and her hair falls down, she laughs too and petting R’sien walks onto the ship, examining what is left.

“Well, there isn’t much that they didn’t sell already, damn bastards.” Nina grunts.

“We should eat something, is late already and my stomach is eating itself,” K’arr is answered by a meow from R’sien and Nina nods.

“I saw fire up there,” she said pointing to a half-open hut, “Let’s cook that rabbit we got on the way, ok?”

K’arr purrs in delight and tugs the unresponsive mer along with them. Vyrthur keeps shut up the rest of the night, eating, drinking and preparing for bed automatically. He would recover from the shock later, long into the night.

The next day, they sail on the big ship carefully, reaching Solitude for lunch. While Vyrthur gets lost as fast as he can into the city, the khajiit brothers go to relax and enjoy the sunny day. Ninada, on the other hand, has lunch with Vittoria.

“... so I sent Nireth a letter a couple of days ago, I will let you know what she says, but I’m sure she’ll do it. What I really wanted to talk with you though, was about my ship. Did you see the new sail I’ve got?”

“Oh, yes, such a beautiful ship too, I’m almost jealous! I’m thinking that you may want to rent it to the EETC?” Vittoria asks excitedly, with a ship of that size the East Empire Trading Co. will be able to send a lot more of cargo in one go, to longer distances and without so many expenses. In fact, they can start with one of the new tradings plans she’s been secretly drawing out; at Akavir, the Ka Po’ Tun and Tang Mo allied against the Tsaesci not long ago and would be a good source to exploit, war always means business in some way or another; then there are the Sloads of Thras island who are creepy but can be talked around, it’s only a question of keeping a straight business arrangement and avoiding becoming their next necromantic experiments; and lastly the Maormer, who suffered a hard blow to their pride when they were defeated on their last invasion scheme on the 3E, could be a good point of trading if they play their cards wisely, as the mer haven’t recovered enough yet. She can be called many things, but not unambitious. It pays to have relations on the right places too, she knows all this inside information because the King is her cousin, so she gets bits and pieces from him from time to time.

Nina nods back at her, “I was thinking of this, you outfit The Scarlett and get the ship for an entire year to do as you want, no questions asked, and in exchange, I’ll get it after the year is up with the ship outfitted and in proper sailing conditions. What do you think?”

Vittoria is giddy now. An entire year to play with that pretty ship and establish new deals, probably even new trading routes? Oh, she’s already imagining negotiation arrangements with Akavir, Thras or Pyandonea taking place! “You’re my new best-friend, Ninada Ulvls! Just wait until I talk with cousin Titus about this and I’ll confirm it to you, but I’m almost sure it’s a closed deal.”

“Also, I have a favour to ask if you don’t mind,” Nina says sheepishly.

“Yes, of course, if it is in my capabilities I’ll gladly help you.”

“I’m planning on going to the Blue Castle and I don’t know how to approach Elisif. I was wondering if you know her and could, maybe, introduce us? Also, I left all of my fancy clothes back home, so if you have time we could go shopping for something more appropriate.”

“I knew when I saw you the first time, that you were just my kind of girl. The looks, the smarts, and the ambition; if I wasn’t engaged to my handsome Asgeir, I would totally ask you. We are going to have so much fun today.”

Nina gets a mischievous smile on her face then, “Well, if Asgeir is as handsome and smart as you put it, I wouldn’t mind much having a bit of fun with you two,” she teases her and enjoys the dreamy look on her friend’s pretty face.

“You’re such a she-devil,” Vittoria purrs and swats her arm lightly, “We’ll see. First, why don’t you tell more about your life? Where are you from? What do you do? How did you end up on this cold Skyrim? I imagine a mer like you have many interesting stories to tell.”

“Humm, where to start…?” Nina says putting a finger on her chin, thinking, and as she gains a smile, starts telling Vittoria about her life.

They share the rest of the day shopping and laughing around as they tell each other funny stories.

###### Blue Castle

“I can’t believe Taarie gave you a dress for free!” Vittoria gushed once out of Radiant Raiments.

“It wasn’t free, I have to tell Elisif about it when we visit.”

“Still!”

“Let’s go.”

They walk into the Blue Castle to hear the end of a conversation between a farmer and Elisif.

“Thank you, Jarl Elisif. But about the cave...”

“I will have someone take care of the cave as well, Varnius, you can rest easy. You're dismissed,” talks a Nord to Elisif’s left and Vittoria tells her he is Falk, the steward, and introduces all the important people around.

The farmer, Varnius, walks away and Elisif stands to greet Vittoria, asking the servant nearby if dinner is ready. Vittoria introduces them quickly and they walk away, to sit on a secluded table with dinner ready.

“Is nice to meet a friend of Vittoria. How did you two meet?” Elisif asks and takes a bite of her steak.

“Nina is getting me a date with the seamstress Nireth for my wedding dress!” Vittoria says with enthusiasm, “They are friends.”

“Oh, is this dress one of her confections as well then?” Elisif points to the dress Nina wears.

“No, actually I left most of them back at home, I got this from Radiant Raiments while we were shopping in the afternoon.”

“It’s so fetching, I’ll be putting in a request for a few dresses of my own soon.”

“They have quite a selection,” Nina adds nodding.

“What was that about in the throne room when we arrived, Elisif? Something about a cave…” Vittoria asks, unknown of Nina’s own interest.

“Vernius came to warn us about strange noises at Wolfskull cave. I’m sure it’s going to be dealt with soon… Ninada?” Elisif asks, noticing Nina’s surprise.

“I’m sorry, I was meant to tell you something about that specific cave actually, it just caught me by surprise that someone already came.”

“Oh, you heard something too?”

“Actually, I was travelling with my children a few days ago when we crossed paths with necromancers trying to resurrect Potema Septim in there. That’s the principal reason why I wanted to come here for an audience.” Vittoria and Elisif look at her, startled and some fear dancing on their eyes, “Don’t look so worried, we took care of stopping them.”

Shaking her shock away, Elisif thanks her, “Thank you, I can’t believe that Vernius warning was quite so serious. Forgive me for a moment, I need to talk with Falk about this.”

Elisif walks away and Vittoria shakes her head.

“Incredible, do you ever have a quiet time?” Her friend asks with mirth and Nina laughs.

When Elisif sits down once more, she sighs, “Did you have other serious talks that we should take out of the way, Nina?” she asks a bit on edge.

“My other reason isn’t as serious I think.”

Elisif, reassured, relaxes and listens to her. Ninada talks about her reasons for returning to Skyrim, explaining that they are barely two dozen Falmers left on the lands and not to worry as they mostly keep to themselves. And then explains her recent discovery about her status as Dragonborn. Elisif is quite surprised, but not shocked. They keep talking afterwards about mundane things, laughing and enjoying some female company.

Elisif is a young and nice woman, but Nina thinks she needs a bit more of an edge for the role she finds herself in need of fulfilling. Such a shame that someone so kind needs to get into the field of politics, it’s going to change her, but for the better or the worse? Nobody knows.

###### 14 Hearthfire, 4E 201, Solitude, Skyrim

The next day, Nina wanders around Solitude, pondering about her children's whereabouts. She hasn’t seen them since they arrived back in the city, the day before, at noon.

It isn’t until the Burning of King Olaf is about to start, at the Bards College’s amphitheatre, that she notices their presence in the middle of the bards that are preparing the dummy for the burning.

She gets approached then by Elisif and Vittoria, who are enjoying sticks with food from the local stalls.

“Vittoria told me that the khajiit siblings are yours,” Elisif comments standing next to her, watching the festival, “They were quite helpful today, recovering the lost original King Olaf’s Verse. You must be proud of them, they’re really cute and respectful.”

Nina smiles, so that’s where they were all this time, she thinks. “I am. They are my little cuties.”

“Do you have more kids?” Vittoria ponders.

“No.” Nina shakes her head, “I never really thought about it. Then my lover died so I thought I wouldn’t have any until I met them a while later on the ruins of their former home.”

“I wish Torygg left me with at least one…” Elisif whispers, clearing a falling tear from her cheek.

“I understand you,” Nina whispers back at her, hugging her waist with one arm.

The morning after Nina walks from The Scarlett to the stables, she wants to check that all their things are packed for the journey to the palace. She finds a little kid called Blaise, an orphan from the civil war who works at the stables for food; her heart swells for him when he mentions that he always sleeps over a haystack. And just like that, when her elder children arrive with Vyrthur to start their journey to the palace, they find themselves with a new sibling.

Vyrthur smiles with a much too warm smile in her direction, she fumbles with the steed avoiding his gaze until he stops.

All the way to their first stop, after Dragon Bridge, Blaise talks non-stop with them. They have lunch along with the hunters camping there and keep going. Dinner is just some dried meat and cheese wrapped on a piece of bread, they don’t stop, and when they reach Riverwood late that night, Blaise is deep asleep hugging K’arr from the back.

All of them are tired, and after getting rooms on The Bannered Mare, they quickly fall asleep.

The next day, all of them take turns with quick showers, Nina surprises Blaise with a new and patches free set of clothes and the trip goes on.

The second day is almost the same as the first, only this time, Nina regals Blaise with stories of her adventures and K’arr leaves them halfway as he needs to get to Riften. Once again, they arrive at their destination deep into the night.

* * *

Blaise wakes up the next morning to the deepest shock of his short life.

The sisters went crazy with spoiling the little boy, missing looking after kids and Blaise enjoys himself exploring his new home and getting attention from his many aunties.

Taarie is happy just by Nina being at home.

###### 19 Hearthfire, 4E 201, Snow Elf Palace, Morrowind

It’s past lunch when K’arr enters the palace. The sisters, Taarie and Ninada were on one of their meetings but stop their talk long enough for Nina to greet him and sent the khajiit to the kitchen to eat.

Four hours later, with the meeting finished, she walks into her room to rest for a moment before tea. K’arr is there, sitting on her bed, a hand rubbing his face tiredly.

“What happened K’arr? You look stressed, son. Come here…” Nina sits and starts giving him a massage on his tensed shoulders.

“I spoke with the guild master, he seemed fearful of Kharlia when I mentioned that she’s the one behind the last events. He wants to confront her as we discovered where she’s hiding. He’s going to take her by surprise…”

“And?”

“He wants me to go too. I want to trust the guild master, but I’ve got a hunch about him, besides, I can’t help but feel that this is a trap,” and suddenly his mother’s hands stop working on his shoulders.

“Then I’m going with you.” She states with certain finality to it, K’arr knows he won't change her mind so he agrees with a tired sigh.

“Let’s sleep for a while, I’m tired too.”

* * *

“Thank you!” Blaise shouts hugging K’arr and admiring his new training sword, “I’ll practice every day!”

“Now, now… there are more presents, here, open this.” Ninada says passing a little mage’s bag with a green bow on it to K’arr, “I hope you like them, son.”

Inside are three books with assorted spells that will come handy for his new job, he kisses her cheek and thanked her.

“Now, R’sien.”

The diminutive khajiit rips the blue wrapping from his present and, perplexed with the light show that manifests from the crystal ball, he starts pawing at it.

“And last but not least, Ri’irr, I hope you like this.”

K’arr helps with the unwrapping and Ri’irr purrs contentedly snuggling his new furry cover for the outsides. He has his own fur, but the Skyrim weather is still harsher than he expected.

“Cake time!” Shouts Taarie, bringing a cylindrically shaped sweetroll, bigger than R’sien himself.

“Happy Children's day!” Nalbor, the cook, says when he gives Blaise and the three khajiit their portions.

No one asked where Vyrthur was in the middle of all of this. Their youngest, Anya, was also missing after all...


	3. Thieves & Assassins

###### 20 Hearthfire, 4E 201, Snow Veil Sanctum, Skyrim

“Good, you're finally here. I've scouted the ruins and I'm certain Karliah is still inside,” Mercer greets K’arr when he gets close.

“Did you saw her?”

“No, I found her horse. Don't worry, I've taken care of it... she won't be using it to escape. Let's get moving, I want to catch her inside while she's distracted. Take the lead.”

“Understood.”

They get close to the door and K’arr notices a peculiar ancient Nordic door, one that can only be opened with a specific key. Great, now what?

“They say these ancient Nordic burial mounds are sometimes impenetrable. This one doesn't look too difficult.” K’arr almost lets his incredulity show as the man gets close to the door, “Quite simple really, I don't know what the fuss is about these locks. All it takes is a bit of know-how and a lot of skill,” thankfully Mercer is with his back at him, otherwise, the way K’arr’s eyes widened in recognition would have been obvious, “That should do it. After you.”

As they descend into the depths of the ancient Nordic tomb, K’arr ruminates on his head what to do. The black key with a round bluish pommel is one of the most expensive valuables there is, probably. One thing is sure, people would gladly kill for it. But, this isn’t the only thing that Mercer’s said that floats his mind because he mentioned before, when K’arr asked about Karliah and Gallus, that the old guild master used to call the woman his ‘little nightingale’.

K’arr read one night, while bored and drinking some mead, a book lying on The Bee and Barb. Nightingales: Fact or Fiction? It wasn’t his peace of cake at the time, too many speculations, too little proof, and now he may be on his way to meet a real damn nightingale?

“Ah, one of the infamous Nordic puzzle doors. How quaint. Without the matching claw, they're normally impossible to open. And since I'm certain Karliah already did away with it, we're on our own. Fortunately, these doors have a weakness if you know how to exploit it. Quite simple, really. Karliah's close. I'm certain of it. Now let's get moving.”

K’arr notices the smell of a female nearby, so taking a step back, he makes a quick motion with a hand behind his back and Mercer gets stuck in place, a second later Nina’s form appears after donning the invisibility spell.

“Karliah, if you can hear me, I’ve got Mercer paralyzed here, how about you come out and tell me the real story behind Gallus death?” K’arr shouts to the room.

Nina prepares her strongest custody, just in case, and moments later a Dunmer walks in front of them letting an invisibility spell to wear off. But before anyone can say or do anything, she shots Mercer who falls to the floor.

“Please tell me that wasn’t poison, I’ll be the one who has to explain things back at the guild, you know?” K’arr drawls and when he doesn’t move to attack, Karliah smiles.

“My arrow was tipped with a unique paralytic poison. It’ll slow his heart and keep him sleeping for quite a while. Thank you for your assistance, but may I ask, how did you know?”

“I had a hunch,” K’arr drawls, “And I know to trust my instincts.”

“I suppose I owe you an explanation then… Mercer must be brought before the Guild to answer for what he's done. He needs to pay for Gallus's murder. My purpose in using the Snow Veil Sanctum to ambush Mercer wasn't simply for irony's sake. Before any of you arrived, I recovered a journal from Gallus's remains. I suspect the information we need is written inside, but Gallus wrote it in some sort of language I've never seen before.”

“Do you mind if my mother takes a look?” He asks nodding at Nina, who until then keep quiet, “She knows many languages,” he explains.

“Your mother… belongs to the Brotherhood?” Karliah asks a little skittish and stares at the handprint on the t-shirt. Ninada dressed in her usual armour again.

“Used to, a long time ago,” Nina shrugs her cowl off and Karliah startles back, dagger in hand, looking from her to K’arr and back. “Easy there,” Nina raises her hands to placate her, “I adopted him two hundred years ago, he is my son in every way that matters.”

Karliah doesn’t seem too convinced so she opens the book on her hands and shows them some pages. “Don’t get any closer,” she warns.

Nina gets a look at the first word and recognises her own native language, a bit mangled but still basically the same, “That would be Falmer, my mother-tongue. Such a pity Gallus is dead, he seems to have been quite an interesting character.”

“He was a scholar, a master thief and a natural leader. Everyone respected him and followed him without question. He was the best man I’ve ever met,” Karliah tells her while putting the book away.

“And your lover,” Nina states.

“And Mercer was a jealous asshole,” K’arr adds, “Not that I ever doubted it,” he smiles as Karliah laughs.

“Can I trust that you will translate Gallus’s journal so I can take it to the guild?” She asks Nina.

“Just one question,” Nina raises a finger, waiting, and Karliah nods moments later. “Why not just kill him?” She asks, kicking Mercer.

“Mercer lied to the Guild, branded me a murderer and slandered my name across his network of contacts. For twenty-five years I ran, never sleeping in the same place twice and carefully covering my tracks. Mercer doesn't need to die... he needs to feel the cold sting of fate as his life crumbles in front of him and he's hunted by the Guild.”

A grin with too many teeth takes hold of mother and son, and for a moment, Karliah can see the resemblance.

* * *

While travelling to Riften, Karliah tells them her story. Meeting Gallus, becoming a thief, Mercer, the Nightingales and Nocturnal….

“Gallus's journal mentions the ‘Twilight Sepulcher’” Nina asks from where she’s reading the journal.

“You've come this far, so I see no harm in concealing it any longer. The Twilight Sepulcher is the temple to Nocturnal. It's what the Nightingales are sworn to protect with their lives. Everything that represents Nocturnal's influence is contained within the walls of the Sepulcher. Now it seems Mercer's broken his oath with Nocturnal and defiled the very thing he swore to protect.”

“Aha, I knew there was something about Nightingales!” K’arr boosters.

“Humm, that explains some things. If the Daedra Lord is angry with Mercer then she most probably took away her gift of luck and that’s why they’ve been having so many troubles all this time.”

“Yes, it is. You seem to know much about Lady Nocturnal,” Karliah mentions with curiosity.

“My best friend knows her well…”

“Your best friend?”

“We have a storm brewing on our backs, it’s better not to call his attention when he is in that kind of mood,” Nina drawls with monotony just as thunder rumbles in the distance.

“Thieves and temples. It just doesn't add up,” K’arr shakes his head and without meaning to, cuts Karliah’s train of thought.

She laughs, “I felt the same way when Gallus first revealed these things to me. As a Nightingale, I've been sworn to secrecy regarding the Sepulcher. I know the Guild doesn't do much to foster faith, but I'm going to have to ask that you continue to trust me.”

“Have I never told you about the Grey Fox, son?” Nina laughs, “Seriously, where do you think he got that cowl from? It isn’t much about faith as it is more about mutual benefits.”

And with the attention of the two thieves focused on her, Nina tells them about her adventures in Cyrodiil with the famous thief of thieves.

* * *

Once at Riften, they move covered by the shadows of the night, reaching the cemetery and walking into the secret entrance.

K’arr goes first, to talk with Brynjolf and warn them about what happened, showing them the translation from Gallus’s journal that Ninada prepared.

All the guild gets summoned then, and as K’arr gets Nina and Karliah inside, the guild gets ready for anything.

K’arr walks in, followed by Nina on her Brotherhood outfit and Mercer over her shoulder like he weighed nothing, Karliah brings the rear and gets lots of nasty looks and suspicious whispers.

With K’arr to the right and Karliah to the left, Nina throws Mercer to the floor with hands and feets still bound. Right then Brynjolf, Vex and Delvin walk to the front of the group.

“How can Mercer open up a vault that needs two keys? It's impossible,” Delvin looks down at Mercer angrily.

“That door has the best puzzle locks money can buy. There's no way he picked the lock, is it?” Vex asks, not so sure, to everyone around them.

“He didn't need to pick the lock,” Karliah is the one to answer her, surprisingly.

“What's she on about?” Delvin questions.

K’arr walks up to Mercer and takes a mysterious key from the man’s pockets. “He didn’t have to pick the lock because he had this,” he says raising the key for everyone to see, “I saw him myself. He used it twice on the Nordic tomb we were earlier, to open doors that should be otherwise impossible to unlock without their respective Dragon Claw or Iron Key,” he explains.

“And what it’s that supposed to be?” Vex asks frustrated.

“Karliah is under an oat so she can’t answer, but I’ll be more than pleased to tell you.” Nina drawls, taking a similar key from her clothes.

“Sweet Nocturnal, how did you got another one!” Karliah asks shocked.

“What? Did you think that she only has one? Please,” Nina shrugs and continues her explanation, “Nocturnal is the Daedric Prince of night and darkness, also called Night Mistress and Lady Luck. She’s is something like the Patron Goddess for thieves. So, as one of hers, when Mercer went and took something that he was explicitly forbidden from taking, Nocturnal got mad; as she is the provider of your luck, mostly, you were all royally screwed after he did this.”

The thieves go ballistic at this, many having to be restrained from attacking Mercer.

“Wait, I thought you were with the Brotherhood, what with your looks and all? So how do you know so much about these things?” Vex, always the bravest of them all, asks Ninada.

“The Grey Fox that ran the Cyrodiil Thieves Guild on the 433 of the 3E is my best friend.” Nina shrugs, “Anyway, these-” she says raising her hand with the key, “are called Skeleton Keys, and are artefacts given by Nocturnal to her chosen. The one Mercer had is the common one who works as an unbreakable lockpick, mine works differently and was a gift from the Grey Fox before he passed the cowl to someone else.”

“Lad, you said this is your mother?” Brynjolf whispers after getting close to K’arr.

“The one and only, you asked me to introduce you, didn’t you?” K’arr smiles sardonically, “well, here she is!”

“I’m not sure if I’m scared or more interested than before, right now.”

“We should wake him up, don’t you think?” Nina asks to Karliah, “I’m sure most of them have questions for their dear Guild Master,” Nina drawls mocking his title.

Karliah gives the man the antidote to her poison after Nina strips him nude in the middle of the room, shooting a spell once she puts him against a barren patch of wall, that holds him in position as if he were chained up from his wrists.

K’arr leaves with Delvin, Mercer’s key to his house in hand. Brynjolf wants to make sure that the guild gets back something of all that the man stole from them.

Brynjolf, Karliah and Nina sit to the side with bottles of mean on hand, they watch as Vex punches the awakening man once, before leaving the other thieves to ask for their answers.

“That was an interesting spell you used there,” Karliah says with a nod in Mercer’s direction, “Where did you learn it?”

Nina grimaces remembering the experience, now clear on her face as she doesn’t have the cowl hiding her features anymore. “That was quite a long time ago, I think… 581? Wait, no. It was on the... 582 of the 2E. I learned it from a Daedroth who was trying to rape a little girl, not that he lived long enough to accomplish it, I may have been younger but I was still quite well trained even then,” Nina smirks.

“How many years old were you?” Brynjolf inquiries with a grimace thinking about the little girl.

“I was eight hundred years old, give or take a few decades.”

“You were quite young,” Karliah comments, “Were you alone?”

“I run from home before my three hundred birthday!” Nina smirks at her.

“Wow, you’re courageous. I wouldn’t have dared to do that at that age.”

“What is so surprising about it?” Brynjolf asks Karliah.

“You wouldn’t understand Bryn. Mers grow up differently, it takes us almost two centuries to reach puberty, sometimes more or less depending on the kind of mer we are talking about. If I’m not mistaken, your kind is the longest-lived there are right?” she asks at Nina, who nods.

“I didn’t leave puberty before I was away from home. I didn’t even have my first period when I left. That first time was shocking let me tell you,” Nina shudders.

With that train of conversation, Brynjolf decides to leave the girls alone and try to get some answers from Mercer himself. It didn’t look like the others were having any luck anyway.

###### 24 Hearthfire, 4E 201, Snow Elf Palace, Morrowind

“Happy birthday!” everyone shouts as Taarie blows the candles on her oversized sweetroll.

Nalbor passes around sweetroll portions for everyone while Taarie opens her presents. Vyrthur, who is with them miraculously, takes Ninada’s forearm and gets them to a secluded corner of the room.

“Next time you leave this place I’m tagging along. Don’t you dare leave me here again,” and skittishly, he leaves, ignoring the looks most of the females send at him.

“What have you been doing to Vyrthur? I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so jumpy before,” Nina asks at the room with a playful smile.

“Oh, he’s such a nice guy, I’ve spent a lot of time with him and…”

“ And wouldn’t leave enough time for me!” Tholor, the blacksmith, hisses at Anya and sulks while stabbing her sweetroll.

“Or me!” Nalbor adds, landing the dish with the cake on the table with more force than necessary.

“That wouldn’t be a problem if you two weren’t so picky,” Sondryn drawled while Faire and Tahla nodded at each side of her.

Blaise mumbles about never seeing ‘uncle Vyrthur’ enough because he runs away from the females.

“Not everyone shares so freely like you three, sisters,” Tilena says respectfully but with some heat on her eyes.

“OKEY! Everyone, calm down,” Ninada interrupts forcefully. “Kids, go play elsewhere,” she orders and they are quick to obey. Her smile lost to the world.

“Mom?” Blaise asks shyly, “Can I have another piece of cake first?”

“Of course sweety, give me your plate…” Nina puts an extra-big slice of sweetroll on his dish and kisses his fringe with a fleeting smile that doesn’t disappear until he stops looking scared and turns around, she looks at him walk away and sends a look at R’sien so he knows to stop any snooping behind doors.

Taarie clears her throat, awkwardly, shifting in her seat before she grabs the cake closer to herself and starts wolfing down the dessert.

“I want to know... why did Vyrthur demanded that I take him along on my next outing while looking all rugged up and, dare I say, even fearful of you lot?” Ninada demands with a soft and deadly tone. Nobody answers her for a long while and she grows angry with the implications.

She rubs her fringe and sighs tiredly, “Please, tell me that you didn’t accost him all the time he’s been here, without any consideration to his feelings or wishes,” Nina pleads to hem, but the guilty looks on their faces are all the answer she needs.

“I hope that you at least realize that forcing your advances on someone who doesn’t welcome them, is.considered. rape!” Nina’s voice thunders on the room, “And I will not have that happening under my watch,” she states, standing. “Rethink your attitudes and behave adequately. I won’t be having this conversation once more, because the next time you act in such a deplorable way, you’ll be forbidden from spending alone time with our guest until you learn some manners.” With a last glare to make her point sink, she storms out of the room shouting, “Taarie, my room, now!”

Ninada rushes into her room and throws herself on her bed. Arms covering her face and huffing angrily. She’s never felt so mad with her family before. How can they be so blind and uncaring?! She’ll be lucky if Vyrthur ever forgives them for their attitudes. How shameful!

A shy knock on some nearby wood surface makes the ruction going on in her head stop.

“Sister?” Taarie calls gently.

“Did you know about what they were doing?” Nina asks frosty, sitting on the bed and fixing her gaze on her little sister.

Taarie shakes her head mutely, “I-I notice that our cousin was acting a little bit peculiar, but I’ve never imagined… Please believe me! I would never support something so…” she whines pitifully and looks pleadingly at Nina while rubbing her hands together with nerves.

“I know, I believe you,” Nina says with a sigh. Her sister is the warmest and most caring person she knows, but she had to ask anyway.

And then she has a lap full of a sobbing Taarie, blaming herself for their cousin’s privacy’s infringement and their relative's overindulgent behaviour. Times like this, when she doesn’t know what to say or do to comfort her little sister, makes Nina mourn her twin more than usual. Niraneris would know how to calm her, immediately.

The plan to go out early the next day is put back, focusing instead on getting some common decency drilled into the females of the palace, which is to say, all of them. They talk for hours on end, getting to a consensus about what their accepted behaviour is going to be from then onwards with many quarrels in-between.

The only interruption she allows during this special meeting comes from K’arr, after lunch. Her sweet boy decided to take his brothers and uncle Vyrthur for an outing, they’ll visit many holds along the way and Gelebor for his birthday on the 1st, excusing her absence and taking along her present for him. He’ll go after Vittoria too, who was supposed to be picked up by Nina as Nireth is coming over to sew her wedding dress and visit for a completely earned holiday of an entire month.

###### 8 Frostfall, 4E 201, Snow Elf Palace, Morrowind

Two carriages arrive at the palace doors the evening of Malacath's day. One of the carriages is full to the brim with luggage, Ruth almost doesn’t have space to sit where she’s handling the reins. The other one has Vittoria and Nireth talking a mile per minute about ideas for different designs, patterns, types of clothes and more; Vyrthur and Asgeir also sit with them but to the side, with Blaise asking about their adventures while he pets R’sien; and K’arr holds the reins while Ri’irr walks next to the cart, meowing to him.

The racket carries around, over the weirdly windless day at the palace, and everyone walks outside to greet them.

Nina and Nireth hugs and laughs for long, Vyrthur is surprised by the females strong and massive apologies when he approaches, and Blaise talks excitedly about all the fun things he did to his mother and aunties.

All of them sit around the dining table once inside, forming many groups, talking here and there. Nalbor, Anya and Tilena get many congratulations along the night for the wonderful feast they arranged in such short notice.

As the common space shared by the guests' rooms is wide enough for Nireth, it gets transformed into her new sewing room and becomes unrecognizable the next day.

Over the following week Nireth and Vittoria become a whirlwind of ideas, talking at all hours about what the dress is going to be and Nireth carrying her measuring tape around her neck all the time. Asgeir is only saved by Blaise, much to everyone's amusement, as the women can’t say no to him when he goes asking for time with his new uncle.

Ninada takes the time then to answer a letter from the King, who accepted the deal she offered but needed some questions answered. Also, the twins wrote to her too, letting her know that they’re planning on visiting for the New life Festival to see how much they can help with the situation; and, they won't be alone!

* * *

On the thirteen, the members of the group capable of magic arranged for a spur-of-the-moment Witches Festival. Blaise got so excited about it, with stories from many of them about the festival, that he asked for a magical show and as the smallest and most spoiled kid around he got his wish.

Ninada and Nireth displayed a splendid light show using some old spells, that were commonly used at Morrowind festivals before the volcano erupted, and garnered lots of awed looks.

Vyrthur, on the other hand, talked with a couple of the guards and they planned for a magical pseudo-combat show with only magic involved. R’sien jumped into the middle of the mock-fight, taking everyone by surprise with his grand skills with magic.

Finally, Taarie beat all of them, when she started her summoning show. Her expertise at conjuration made for a hilarious and widely adored end of the evening. She started with a simple Bound Dagger summoning, throwing them in the air, dancing around while having many of them rolling mid-air, and finally, balancing one on her nose by the handle while catching all the other three daggers in only one hand and moving her hips in a circle.

She followed this with a Conjure Familiar and proceed to make the summon roll around, jump the furniture and around the people as an obstacle circle and sent it away after making it ‘play dead’. She closed it with three more conjurations; Flame Thrall, Frost Thrall, and Unbound Dremora; Taarie got closed to the Dremora and after speaking secretly to his ear, he nodded and proceeded to mimic being a puppet-master while the thralls dance around as if to his whim. After this, all four of them bowed and Taarie dismissed the thralls while the Dremora followed her around for the rest of the night.

None of them understood how Taarie got the Dremora to play along, but Nina got a crazy idea going around her head after she noticed the Dremora had a red rose and golden chains on his armour. That specific design is quite familiar to her after all.

When everyone started to leave for some rest, Blaise long since fell asleep, Nina went to say goodnight to her sister last, taunting her about having ‘pleasant dreams’ with innuendo and getting her to blush while the Dremora laughed, as he was close and heard Nina’s words.

* * *

Four days later Vittoria and Asgeir had to leave, their time off-work ending soon, and Vyrthur accompanied them. Nina decided to buy the house that Jarl Balgruuf told her about a long time ago, as their travelling generally takes them by the city with frequency and her cousin offered to go for her to take care of the payment; surprisingly, R’sien decided to tag along with him, they bonded on their last trip together apparently.

The rest of the month was quite in comparison. Blaise got taught by Taarie, Nireth and Ruth were holed up sewing, Ninada managed things around the palace and prepared everything to run smoothly for those times she would be away on a jaunt, the guard trained and helped Blaise to learn the basics of sword-wielding, Nina taught him basic spells mostly for protection, and the 28 Nina and Nireth got drunk mourning their lovers.

On the 1st of Sun’s Dusk, Nireth and Ruth emerged from the guest's common turned sewing room. Her friend proclaimed her job accomplished and herself ready for some well-deserved fun spelunking around Skyrim with Nina, to remember the ‘good ole days’. Sometimes she makes her feel so darn old, thinks Nina with a fond smirk.

###### 1 Sun’s Dusk, 4E 201, Skyrim

Nina finishes reading the last letter K’arr sent, he is busy travelling around Skyrim and completing missions to upgrade the status of the guild. He was chosen as the new Guild Master but has to prove himself before getting to fawn about his new position. And prepares a reply before hearing Nireth’s demands for some action.

They pack immediately, as Nireth doesn’t want to stay holed up on the palace anymore, no matter how pretty it is, she said to Nina. So, while Ruth can take her time as she will take the carriage and wait for them at Falkreath, the two friends part right away on top of Ri’irr while Blaise and Taarie wave goodbye to them.

Ri’irr runs, enjoying the freedom of it as he usually isn’t capable of doing that, but as it’s just Nina and Nireth now and they packed light, just some mages pouches who are enchanted with extended spaces inside them, he can run to his heart's content.

They only stop after noticing a cave to the side of the stone pathway, they are near Lake Yorgrim, Nina believes.

After months of hard training, Ri’irr is able to change his size by himself now, and when his mother and her friend get down, he shrinks. He isn’t going to wait outside if he can accompany his mother. He wants to have some fun too, and what better way to do it than mauling some draugrs, because this kind of place has lots of them, he thinks looking at the cave opening.

They killed some Ice Wraiths that attacked them out of nowhere and got inside without much preamble. But, there was another one.

Well, at least Nina got some hard-to-find alchemy ingredients.

Next, they go deeper into the cave, there are draugrs, tramps, a wall with shiny symbols like that one at Bleak Falls Barrow… Humm, maybe she should go talk to the Greybeards, looking at the weird scratchy symbols gave her a dizzy spell and that is worrisome.

A weird room with a locked stone door is at the end of the series of rooms, the friends look at each other and shrugging search for the shortcut out of there because there’s always a shortcut in these kinds of places.

They make camp in the entrance of the cave, there's no reason to tempt luck and call for more Ice Wraiths to attack them while they rest.

The following days are most of the same, Nireth makes random stops on ruins and caves with Nina and Ri’irr following merrily, they loot tombs and dead mercenaries, Nina encounters more walls with shiny scratches on them and some dragons flying around that attack and Nireth get to see her ‘devouring’ their souls, they camp and eat what they hunt on the day, they sleep on bedrolls most of the time, and the 6th they arrive at Falkreath.

Ruth is already there, so they rest after some warm baths that night and early the next morning Nireth and her apprentice leave back to Cyrodiil.

They are taking the pathway at the south-west of Falkreath, that passes through Chorrol, instead of the one Ninada used when she arrived at Skyrim first, as the Pale Pass has become a dangerous road since the incident at Helgen. The lack of soldiers patrolling Helgen has given place to mercenaries settling there and attacking people using that route.

Ninada then takes a short trip to Riverwood, where Vyrthur is settling up the house.

###### 8 Sun’s Dusk, 4E 201, Breezehome

Ninada wakes up with a grunt and a heavyweight settling on top of her, until then, sleeping form. As she feels soft fur against her skin, she hugs whichever of her children is crushing her to the bedding.

“Come on! This is important Ri’irr, shove off.” Nina hears K’arr talk as a hiss echoed in the room.

“Is too early for fights, kids… Let momma have her beauty sleep,” Nina drawls rolling and trying to ignore the hustle of the bed.

She dozes off, waking up a couple of hours later, Ri’irr with his back to her chest and soundly sleeping. Nina sits then, and with a lazy yawn starts raising and putting a nice green silk-dress that Nireth designed for her. Downstairs are K’arr, R’sien, and Vyrthur already awake and chatting. She takes a light breakfast, and finishing, pays attention to K’arr who’s been sending pointed looks at her all the time throughout the meal.

They stand and walk to the back, where the extra bedroom lies, and he proceeds to explain himself in hushed whispers.

“I’ve got a job at Dawnstar last week so I came from the north route, but with the snowstorm brewing had to stay at the Nightgate Inn for most of the day yesterday, so I started the ride again early this morning before dawn, crossing a farm an hour or so from here.” Nina nods as he pauses, she saw the farm too, “There was a broken carriage there, with a weird jester worrying about the broken wheel and talking about his dear and sweet mother,” he punctuated the ‘mother’ part. “He was dressed in the unique red and black colours that you usually favour, so I thought that you may find this intriguing. Loreius, the farmer, was quite adamant with ignoring the pleas from Cicero to help.”

“Cicero… did you talked to him?”

K’arr nods, “He said he would pay me if I convinced the man to help. Not that it worked,” he scoffs.

“Anything else relevant?”

“Cicero mentioned about transporting his mother to a new home, a crypt to the north.” Nina nods thankfully at him and turns around to walk off, “Oh!” K’arr exclaims and she stops, “Loreius was also thinking about asking the guards to take the jester away, so I think that you should hurry if you are going to see this guy. If he’s from the brotherhood, then a simple guard or Loreius aren’t going to be of any help. The guy sounded quite mad, to be honest, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he kills them all for doing something rash.”

“Thanks, son,” Nina winks at him and hurriedly walks up to her room once more, a silk gown isn’t going to be appropriate for this situation.

From the distance, Nina can appreciate already something going on at Loreius farm. As she gets near the cart she can already feel the cold embrace of the Night Mother reaching for her, inside her mind.

She ties the reigns of K’arr’s horse at the cart and leaves the tools beside the broken wheel.

Nina puts her hand against the wooden crate and bows her head, asking the Night Mother for her blessing, and with renewed vigour walks up to the farm.

Cicero is walking out of the farmer’s house when she reaches the top, getting startled at being caught.

“Hehehe, it seems that Cicero will have even more fun this fine morning!” The man laughs with a dangerous glint shining in his eyes as he goes for the ebony dagger at his hip.

“Calm, brother,” Nina says softly, standing her ground, “I’m here to help,” she tells him and Cicero grins even more maniacally than before.

“Oh! Are you now? Hahaha! Cicero is lucky then, mother will be so happy with Cicero. We haven’t reached the Sanctuary and Cicero’s found a sister already!”

“Would you mind telling me about what happened?” Nina questions with a pointed look at his bloodied dagger.

The jester frowns and whines, “Loreius happened! He sent that nosy guard to take me away. Cicero wasn’t even doing anything bad for once!”

“So you killed them?” Nina cuts him short before he can start rambling again.

“Yes! Oh, yes! It’s been so long since Cicero killed last…” he says gaining a mirthful look, “as the Keeper, Cicero has to care for Mother all the time and can’t take assignments anymore,” he ends up sad, damn but the guy changes moods more than her on her days of the month.

She smirks under her cowl and laughs softly, “What were you planning to do then? Burn down the house maybe? Or make it look like an animal attack? I think there are even some giants nearby…” Nina drawls looking into the distance, isn’t there a Giant camp to the north? She wonders, as they passed this patch of land with her friend not to long ago and she thinks that she remembers seeing one then.

“Hehehe, Cicero likes his sister’s ideas!” And then the guys start laughing and dancing around, “Cicero would love to burn the house down, if only Cicero could use magic,” he says with gloom but still spinning around, “There isn’t anything flammable inside the house either!” He growls, outraged now, “I was going to look for something here to…”

“There’s no need,” Nina interrupts, raising a hand with a dancing flame.

Cicero walks aside and observes, for once silent, as the house becomes a raging inferno.

Nina makes sure that the fire has taken hold of the house properly before turning around, “Let’s go, we shouldn’t make mother wait for so long.”

And Cicero is back to his boisterous self again. They walk to the broken carriage and proceed to fix it, with the jester telling jokes that are so ridiculous that she laughs. With the wheel fixed, she grabs a bite to eat, sharing with Cicero half of her horker sandwich.

The last bite almost gets stuck on the wrong orifice though, as the voice of the Night Mother fills her head, she coughs and chokes on it while Cicero tries to help with a pat not so soft at her back. The bread shoots out of her mouth after Cicero squeezes her middle in a weird hug and she falls to the floor panting with a sore throat for a few seconds. All the while he rants worriedly.

“Cicero shut up,” she rasps out more forcefully than she pretended and stands as she regains her breath, staring at the crate in front of her.

 

_It isn’t your time for joining the Void, yet, my dear. The Night Mother says in an amused voice. Your assistance is required once more, daughter of Auri-el. You know the secret words, tell them to sweet Cicero and help my children in their time of need. The Sanctuary of Dawnstar needs a lot of work and preparation for the resurfacing of the Dark Brotherhood of old and you will be the Listener until we are pleased with your work, just like last time._

_And… there is another Sanctuary... At Falkreath, look for the Black Door and when asked ‘What is the music of life?’ you will answer ‘Silence’. Astrid and her misguided siblings must be shown why the tenets and old ways are important, use any way you find necessary._

_Lastly, visit Aventus Aretino, in Windhelm. The charge for the job he’ll be asked is service to the family... after he’s properly trained._

_These are your tasks, for now, my dear. We are pleased to have you in our midst once again._

 

As the voice fades and Nina regains her bearings, she notices Cicero staring at the hand she has against the crate with a twitching eye. She smiles, how sweet.

“So zealous, Keeper,” Nina teases him. “There is no need to be like that, I have great news that you should be focusing on instead,” she beams ignoring his glare, “Darkness rises when silence dies.”

###### 4 Sun’s Dusk, 3E 433, Cyrodiil

Nina has been sitting in front of the grave now, for what feels like a lifetime, but she’s too tired after crying and drinking all day. She can’t believe that it’s been only a week since Latvus’ death.

A week since the war against Mehrunes Dagon ended.

Six days since people started burying their loved ones.

Five days since the twins pried her fiance’s dead body from her.

Four days since Latvus’ funeral.

Three days since the twins disappeared after a shouting match with her, she blames herself, they don’t. She doesn’t understand how they can dismiss the fact that she was the one who asked for their help in this mess… Latvus should be alive and-

“Stop sulking around! Is the fourth day in a row that someone has to come looking for you at the cemetery. Nireth told me about it,” Cael states as he takes her slightly drunken self on his arms.

Nina supports her head on his shoulder as he walks carrying her bridal style, effortlessly, all the long way to her house. The unusually tall and blond Breton settles her on her bed and relaxes on the other side, after taking off both of their footwear. He knows she would chide him otherwise.

She goes to take another gulp from the bottle of brandy on her hand only to have it replaced with cheese of all things.

“Enough alcohol for you, when was the last time you had something solid in your stomach?” He cuts bread and cheese into little pieces, offering her the plate, “ He would kill me if I don’t take care of you. I’m sure his spirit will find a way to appear back in Nirn only to kick my arse, please eat.”

She stares at him with her head back against the bed’s wooden headboard, he stares back at her with the plate on his outstretched hand insisting for her attention.

Stubborn, she thinks and can’t help the little fond smile that blooms on her face, “He would, wouldn’t he?”

“Certainly, so let's avoid it, I have a handsome backside for it to get ruined.”

Nina swallows down the meal he offers her, even if she isn’t hungry. And when they’re done with the food he sits up, his caramel eyes hardening, preparing to throw some shit at her that she isn’t going to like, she knows him too well to not recognise the look. War does that to people, makes them get close to the ones nearby as the dread of their possible demise looms over their heads and they want to forget about it as they enjoy the mutual company.

“Spill it, your pretty face wasn’t made for that dreadful look either,” she jokes and gains a smile as a reward.

“I visited the Lucky Old Lady yesterday.” Nina’s eyebrows shot up. He told her about all he did with <em> _them_ </em>, but never with specific names or locations so this is certainly most unexpected.

“What does this have to do with me...?” she asked cautiously, alcohol has never worked properly on her no matter how much she drinks so she still has her brain on working function.

“Remember that I told you about that weird portal that appeared at Niben Bay, the rumours and all?”

“Yes…?” Nina drawls, “You said you’ll visit after the war if given the chance, to get away from the crazy that is here.”

“I decided to go in a few days, just yesterday, so imagine my surprise when I went to The Lucky Old Lady and was told to find a replacement for my job as I will become unable to do it myself.” Nina caught up with what he says but the implications are too devastating to think about… “I’m not going to die,” Cael clarifies quickly and she noticeably relaxes, “She said that I’m going to have other obligations once I get through the portal, and since the Dread Father approves, I got released from my duties. Anyway, she told me in not so many words, that you’re to replace me for the next couple of months.”

They fall into a companionable silence as Ninada rummages through the world-shifting piece of news he’s released at her.

“Did she specifically mentioned something about not keeping me for the rest of my natural life?” Nina asks, befuddled.

Cael nods, “She called you ‘Auriel’s daughter’, whatever that means. I don’t know what kind of claim Akatosh has on you but apparently the Dread Father and he made an arrangement,” and as he witnesses Nina’s perplexed state he guffaws, “I think I got the same reaction from the Silencer when I told her about this last night.”

“I don’t understand, I’ve never been a religious woman, what can possibly give Auri-el any claim over me as to stop Sithis’?” Nina babbled bewildered.

Cael shrugs, “Mother doesn’t give many explanations, the long talk we had actually surprised me.”

“Ugh, it’s not like I have much of a choice on the matter…” Nina complains in defeat, “You don’t say no to beings like them,” she pouts.

“No, you certainly can’t.”

And after another long silence she says, “Ok, I’m ready,” she sighs putting the dish of their late meal away and throwing herself down on the bed bonelessly, “Give me a rundown of what I’ll have to do and know about all this…”

“Well, you will practically become the Brotherhood’s leader, there is no one with more authority than the Listener because of their closeness with Mother. The keeper would be your only equal, but since Mother resides under a warded and protected crip we don’t have need of one. And the rest of the Black Hand, the four Speakers, advice and support the Listener. For now, is going to be you leading and the only other who survived the Purification, a Silencer…”

Cael spends hours explaining her new responsibilities and obligations; the Brotherhood's history, the hierarchy, recruiting siblings and contacting the clients, the ubications of many safehouses and Sanctuaries, what is a Purification and what happened after he took care of the third and last one just a few months back. The Dark Brotherhood is a cult, but also a business he explains.

They pack her things, to move to Bravil for the foreseeable future, and say goodbye to their friends explaining it as going away on adventures to mourn and try to get over the loved ones they lost.

On Bravil, Nina settles at one of the safehouses and meets Arquen, the altmer Silencer. The three spend the next few days getting Nina settled and answering her questions. On the fifth day, Cael leaves for Niben Bay after she makes him promise to write, at least once a year. He agrees to appease her worries and jokes about not believing to be gone for so long, and they part ways with one last hug.

When Nina visits the Night Mother for the first time she gets a greeting, her new assignments, and news about what is to become of her best friend. He most certainly won’t come back, but she hopes he remembers to write at least. She returns and gives Arquen a new assignment before going to her home and crying for her friend.

Going back home after recruitment one day, Nina surprises herself by adopting a trio of khajiits cubs that she finds on the ruins of a house, and with a new purpose in her life she starts recovering slowly from her mourning state as she learns to love again.

The Dark Brotherhood is feared and hated in equal measure. During the following five months she learns many things, and alongside Arquen, they put the Brotherhood back together.

Her last act as a Listener of the Dark Brotherhood is reinstating the Dark Hand, as they have many members once again, and ‘Listening’ one last time as the Night Mother chooses her new Listener.

With her things packed, she and her children leave Cyrodiil. Arquen is there to say goodbye, after months of working together they became good friends, she gets misty eyes and thanks Nina for all the help and good company she provided the Brotherhood on their time of need. Arquen knows that not she or Cael will be seen in the Empire any time soon.

* * *

The 10 of Evening Star, at the turning of a new era, Ninada receives her first letter from Cael. The writing is messier than she’s used to, his thoughts seem to run in many directions at the same time making it difficult to follow what he’s trying to say to her, he talks about things that don’t make sense and rants madly on the ten-pages long letter.

She wasn’t expecting anything less from Sheogorath, the Daedric Prince of Madness, but she still mourns her best friend.

What would it feel like to mantle an immortal being? She wonders that night, before falling asleep surrounded by her three furry cubs. How did he even become a Daedroth?

Things to ponder about, maybe one day she’ll get her answers.

###### 12 Sun’s Dusk, 4E 201, Aretino’s house

Nina walks into the kid’s house, hearing him as he performs the Black Sacrament with desperation.

The eight, after explaining to an overwhelmed Cicero what the Night Mother said, she left to Whiterun where she talked with Vyrthur and her children, letting them know she’ll be busy with the Dragonborn thingy and some other stuff that surged unexpectedly.

Vyrthur asked about staying at Breezehome, which she didn’t have problems with, while K’arr went to Riften as he had more jobs to take care of.

Nina took the road once more, with R’sien and Ri’irr by her side, and visited the Tongues to learn as much as she could of being a Dragonborn and the prophecy tying her to Alduin. She wasn’t pleased to discover that she’s supposed to kill the world eater because Auriel couldn’t be bothered to discipline his own son. She has some chosen words to say to him.

And now, here she is, about to take a contract from a kid.

She arrived late last night and rested at Candle Heart Hall, where the barmaid was more than pleasing to tell her about the rumour of Aventus summoning the Brotherhood. What the hell was Astrid doing? The rumours have been going around for over a month, she asked.

“...for the sins of the unworthy must be baptized in blood and fear,” she caught the last sentence of the Sacrament, how did this kid to travel all the way from Riften back here? “I'm so tired… So... very tired… Die, Grelod. Die!” Well, if anything, he seems motivated... “Grelod, you old crone. You'll get what you deserve. The Dark Brotherhood will see to that… Please... How long must I do this?” Grelod… she must be such a nice lady for a kid to hate her so much, “I keep praying, Night Mother. Why won't you answer me?”

“Mother has heard you, child,” Nina talks, startling the kid who shoots up and smiles up at her.

“It worked! I knew you'd come, I just knew it! I did the Black Sacrament, over and over. With the body and the... the things. And then you came! An assassin from the Dark Brotherhood.” She looks at the Sacrament, the heart and skeleton are there… where did he get them from? Uh… “It took so long. So very long. But now that you're here, you can accept my contract.”

“Yes, Grelod?” Nina asks and he nods, “Why her?”

“My mother, she... she died. I... I'm all alone now. So they sent me to that terrible orphanage in Riften. Honorhall. The headmistress is an evil, cruel woman. They call her Grelod the Kind. But she's not kind. She's terrible. To all of us. So I ran away and came home. And performed the Black Sacrament. Now you're here! And you can kill Grelod the Kind!”

“Are you sure about this? Assassinations don’t come cheap,” she warns the boy, “Mother wants something special in exchange for it.”

“I have a family heirloom you can have. Supposed to be sort of valuable. I hope that's all right,” he says at her hopeful but Nina shakes her head and he loses the enthusiasm.

“Not that,” she seizes him, the kid travelled alone for a long distance, realized a ritual that needs many ingredients hard to come by, doesn’t seem bothered about asking for someone dead… maybe he’s going to be fine as an assassin… she hopes anyway. “How old are you?”

“I-I’m ten…”

Nina nods, still staring at him, “And what do you think about assassins. Aren’t you afraid of me?”

Aventus shakes his head, “Someone like Grelod doesn't deserve to live one more day. She's a monster. When I grow up, I'm going to be an assassin. That way I can help lots of children, just like you’re helping me. I’m not afraid, I just want her dead so no one has to suffer under her care as I did and like my friends still do.”

Nina is surprised, to tell the truth, here he is, a kid, braver and more determined than many adults she’s met. Maybe the Night Mother’s wish is going to be easier to accomplish than she expected.

“Pack your bags then, you’re coming along,” she orders him, testing his resolve.

He takes a moment to grasp her words, but when he understands, he smiles widely at her, “Yes!” He shouts and runs away, starting to shove some clothes into an old knapsack.

Nina opens the windows and burns the rest of the Sacrament, no need to call unwanted attention if someone gets in here. In no time they are walking down the stairs with Aventus ready.

“Can I visit Calixto?” the kid asks a little shy, “I should say goodbye… and thanks, I suppose, to the old lady too...” he whispers with nerves.

“Who is this man, Calixto?” Nina asks suspiciously.

“Calixto is a friend, he lives over there,” Aventus points his little finger to the house they’re walking by and stands in front of the door.

Nina shrugs, why not? She has a wide t-shirt on, covering her red Brotherhood one, so recognition is no problem. Aventus storms inside the shop calling loudly for him and Nina follows more sedately.

“...I’m going away, I just wanted to say thanks, I don’t think I could have done it without the… the things you gave me.” Aventus talks with the imperial that looks pleased with him.

“I guess it worked then, good for you kid. Where are you going? Are you going to be alright on your own?” He raises his head then, noticing Nina as she gets close, “Oh, hello there, I’m sorry but the shop is closed yet…”

“I’m with him,” Nina tells the guy, “And we are going travelling, I’m adopting Aventus into the family, right kid?”

Calixto looks suspiciously at her, “Are you alright with this kid? I thought you didn’t want to be adopted…”

Aventus looks between them, mumbling a shy yes and Calixto takes out a dagger standing threatening as he looks at Nina. She rolls her eyes unbothered.

“What do you plan to…”

Nina gets tired of his attitude and thinking about his blase disregard of Aventus obviously talking about the Sacrament before, she glares at him and says something she wouldn’t under normal circumstances, “Aventus is joining us, per Mother’s wishes, so you better put that down before you make me hurt you.” The smell of blood that surrounds him like a veil gets thicker as he sweats.

“You’re with the Brotherhood!” Calixto exclaims fearful and puts the dagger away. “My apologies,” and he looks down at Aventus, “Well, it looks like you got lucky, kid. Go,” he pats Aventus on the head and gives Nina a respectful nod.

She reaches the door as Aventus hugs suddenly a surprised Calixto, “Not a word,” Nina mouths without a sound as she glared at the man who nods in agreement.

Back at Candlehearth Hall, Ninada introduces Aventus to her children and they spend the day buying some clothes because Aventus doesn’t have much and as a growing boy, his old ones got short for him, and some potions and food for the trip to Riften. As Aventus will be recognized if he gets near the place, Nina also buys a bedroll for his use. Between the bedroll and Ri’irr’s big and warm body, he’ll hardly experience any cold.

The trip is short and uneventful. Ninada even feels reassured after killing Grelod, the woman was a nasty piece of work, so hated that when her body was discovered after the night, the kids of the orphanage were found laughing and dancing around it.

They arrive at Dawnstar on the evening of the 16th. The blizzard that is quickly forming it’s helpful for them, they avoid most of the people as they are inside their houses, and when they land in front of the Black Door Ninada warns him to pay attention.

“What is life’s greatest illusion?” It asks.

“Wow, a door that talks!” Aventus grins at her, “What is it?”

“Innocence, my brother,” Ninada says loud and clear, the door opens, Aventus squeals and shoots inside with all the enthusiasm of the ten years old he is.

As Ninada walks inside the old Sanctuary, she starts making a list of all the changes and remodelling she’ll make when they get money. She already talked with Delvin, the Thieves Guild and the Dark Brotherhood had always worked closely, since the beginning. Convincing him not to mention her activities to Astrid, if any other member of the Falkreath Sanctuary asked, was another thing; he was uncomfortable with it but she couldn’t reassure him without revealing Brotherhood’s information and as she explained this, he bent to her will.

Cicero claps, dances and sings as Ninada goes downstairs after greeting the Night Mother who was just at the entrance, surrounded by flowers and the scents of oils lingering around her.

“Hello brother,” Nina greets as Cicero welcomes Aventus with his own style, a loud laugh and dance.

“Sister! So good to see you again, Cicero was so lonely…” and he hugs her out of nowhere.

“Ow, did you miss me?” She asks sweetly as she returns the hug, this seems to please him.

“Cicero did, Cicero did!” And with the last squish, he lets go, grabbing Aventus by the hand and taking him on a walk around the Sanctuary. Telling him how Cicero spent his time preparing rooms for the Listener and his new little brother and all the future training he’s planned already; sword, bow, some magic, Dark Brotherhood history...

Nina follows until the room chosen for her appears in her view and with a ‘Thank you’ at Cicero she enters it to get a bath and some sleep.

They need to start planning, soon, what to do around the place and how to get some money.

Last time she had the accumulated resources of many long-time established Sanctuaries, now, she barely has a Sanctuary that hasn’t collapsed on their heads.


	4. Having tea with the family

###### Sun’s Dusk, 4E 201, Dawnstar Sanctuary

The following days are full for them as the Sanctuary is big and there is much to clean. Cicero complains about a few nightmares he has on and off, Aventus happily helps, and Nina comes and goes from Dawnstar with things they need.

Aventus is a little kid, so when she wakes up with him at her side one morning she doesn’t really mind it, but when it happens with Cicero she doesn’t really know what to think of it. She sometimes feels like there are two kids with her instead of only one. Well, except for her furry kids she means, as they are there too. Cicero loves to pet R’sien and seems to like her son, but not as much as Ri’irr as she found them sparring playfully like a pair of dogs and sharing a rug for naps too; and Aventus, as he seemed to have picked Cicero for a role model, does as the older shows him.

As Cicero is the Keeper, he needs to be constantly by the Night Mother’s side, oiling her body and keeping her clean. It’s mostly Nina, with Aventus more often than not, who goes outside.

When they need food, she takes Aventus to practice his skills with the bow that Cicero is honing on him. When she needs to hit the Dawnstar shops, Aventus is instructed to pay attention to how she talks with the merchants and also to practice his sneaking around. Nina also takes a few notifications from the jarl, a group of mercenaries here or a wild wolf pack there are perfect to teach the kid how to use his new daggers and spells, the money, of course, is always welcome with the generally low level of it.

Today though, Nina is taking Cicero on a trip; the guy is mad enough without getting him worse by being confined for too long into their home. So, on the 26th, the two hit Dawnstar to find something ‘fun’ to do. Nina has heard rumours of the nightmares from all the people in the city and thinks it is the perfect time to help the priest to deal with the problem.

With Erandur on the lead, Cicero and Nina follow him up the mountain and into Nightcaller Temple.

They get a surprise when the Priest of Mara turns out to be an old Priest of Vaermina, but they’re from the Brotherhood so they can hardly judge him. As she expected, Cicero has a grand time when he gets to drink a weird potion that lets him experience the past and as they kill the priests and orcs awakening from their drug-induced dreams she can hear him laughing like a madman; he’s happy, they have a good time, and—after talking Erandur around—they have a Crane of Corruption to play with without the need of killing the man.

… but he gets on Mara’s bad side for it.

He sighs looking stricken, for like... five seconds or so, recovering of it with a shrug and a curse, “Gah! What the hell, I’ve got over Vaermina, I can get over Mara. You guys want me to form part of your cult too? I could try something new right about now.”

He sounds almost like a spurned lover.

Cicero dances, “Yes! Oh, yes! Cicero knew he liked Erandur!”

Nina shrugs and thinks why the hell not? The Dark Brotherhood isn’t picky. When she was recruiting members two hundred years ago, they got lots of different people; a worshipper of Peryite that loved poisons of any kind, a set of twins obsessed with knowledge and Hermaeus Mora (tentacles, ugh!)… a teenager necromancer that got off with it as disgusting as that sounded, and a girl with Mephala’s blessing (a nymphomaniac) that lived-up the place a lot.

Having an ex-Vaermina/Mara priest...or worshipper isn’t that much of a stretch in that regard.

“Sure,” Nina voices, “If you don’t mind working with other possible Daedra worshippers in the future…” Oh, she almost forgot about the old man that worshipped Arkay, he was the graveyard keeper that buried whatever they brought to him without questions, “Or even other Divine’s worshippers,” she adds the possibility.

“I don’t have a problem with that,” Erandur nods, “What do we do then?”

“We send the souls of the Night Mother’s chosen to the Void!” Cicero gushes without a second thought, “Mother will be even more pleased with us, sister!” And he grabs Nina, starting to dance, “We’ve found her another child! Yes, we have!”

Nina laughs as he spins her in the air. Erandur looks at them open-mouthed, caught by surprise.

###### 4 Evening Star, 4E 201, Windpeak Inn

“Go get some sweetrolls sweety, make sure that this time Thorin wraps them well, we need to keep them away from Cicero,” Aventus walks away as Nina and R’sien wanders to the table where K’arr and Delvin sit together. Ri’irr decided to stay and nap in front of the fire at the Sanctuary.

“Hello, boys,” Nina singsongs, hugging K’arr and kissing Delvin’s cheek mischievously, laughing as he pinks slightly.

“How are you, mother?”

“Fine, we have few quiet moments between Cicero and Aventus. Just the other day we were on an outing and got a new brother on the way back, cleaning is on its way to be finished, and we got some money to pay for your services,” she finishes looking at Delvin.

“Always a pleasure to help,” Delvin winks.

They were lucky that Erandur knew Nightcaller Temple so well. Between the gold and other useful things they sold, they have enough money to ask for the Guild’s assistance in redecorating the inside of the Sanctuary.

“This is a list I prepared with the things we’ll need,” Nina passes a note and Delvin inspects it.

“Yes, yes, that’s doable. Oh! Now that’s the Brotherhood I know and love,” he says pointing at the ‘torture chamber’ line on the piece of paper.

Aventus joins them then and they stand, walking out, “I need to show you something else,” Nina tells them and they start following her, enjoying the sweetrolls the kid passed to them.

They walk a few minutes to the north, going up to the lighthouse that sits over the Sanctuary.

“Do you see that little island over there?” Nina points to the north-east, “Not the big one with the Nord ruins,” she clarifies, “The little one before that. I want a crypt there for the Night Mother to rest. Can you make me an estimate of how much gold we’ll need for that?”

“That is going to be expensive, I can tell that much now.”

“I know, but the Keeper of the Night Mother is too damn good with a blade, and to not exploit his abilities seems a waste of talent for me,” Nina comments, shaking her head, “Also, I want the Night Mother in a warded and even more protected crypt than before. I’m no necromancer but I’ll rise draugrs myself if I have to, or somehow convince a Dragon to watch over the damn crypt if that is what it takes for her to be protected; a repeat of what happened at Bravil is not an option.”

Aventus puts a sweetroll on her hand and she starts munching on it, calming down from her rant with a thanks to the kid.

With their meeting over, Delvin leaves after Nina pays for the furniture she wanted and K’arr leaves alone for Markarth.

Ri’irr, smelling the sweetroll, steals the wrapped package from Aventus and Cicero joins him in eating them. So much for some deserts this week... At least she was able to save one for Erandur.

* * *

The next day, Nina and Ri’irr go in search of the horn of Jurgen Windcaller, the Tongues gave her that mission as a test for her, before leaving High Hrothgar.

Reaching the swamp of Morthal, they find Ustengrav overrun by enthralled dead mercenaries and necromancers. With Auriel’s bow in hand, Nina dispatches the undead bodies while Ri’irr covers her back from the mages.

Inside, the crypt is vast and full of draugrs, skeletons and tramps; down on the wider part of the cave, where a waterfall lies, is another word wall that she can basically understand now, after getting the simple instructions from the Tongues and reading a couple of books they lend her.

Dovahzul, as the language is called, is the tongue of the dragons, and the scratches on the walls are the written form taught by dragons over a thousand years ago.

On the last room, they find Jurgen’s sarcophagus, a man that even she has only ever heard stories about; the founder of the Greybeards, the first and mightiest of the Tongues, builder of High Hrothgar; and Daedric script adorns his coffin… Why would the Tongues put that on their leader’s coffin? How curious...

On top of the stone casket, she finds a note instead of Jurgen’s horn that reads: _Dragonborn. I need to speak to you. Urgently. Rent the attic room at the Sleeping Giant Inn in Riverwood, and I’ll meet you. A friend._

A friend? Yeah, right. She wasn’t born yesterday.

“It seems we need to make a quick stop at Riverwood, after visiting Astrid,” she tells her son that was prodding her leg for attention, “Cicero isn’t going to like this, but I may need to take some time away to talk with this person before going to Master Arngeir,” she sighs and pats his heads, “Are you hungry? I feel like I could devour a cheese wheel or a dozen by myself, let's go.”

###### 6 Evening Star, 4E 201, Breezehome

_Oblivion gates… Fire. The daedra. SCREAMS!!! Smoke. Pain. Tears. Loneliness. Hurt, hurt, hurt!_

_It hurts so much…_

_Latvus!_

Ninada wakes up with a start, sitting upright and breathing heavily. She almost panics, not recognising where she is until the last fogginess from her sleep fades away. Breezehome, she recognizes with no small amount of relief.

She blinks a few tears away, rubbing the crust from her eyes, and plops back down on the bed, turning and hugging the resting form of Ri’irr next to her closer.

There are two specific days that are really bad for Ninada to deal with during the year, the 6 of Evening Star which is Latvus’s birthday, and the 28 of Frostfall which is his death anniversary and much harder to deal with. Anyway, both of them bring back memories that cause her to wake up sweating from nightmares and memories alike.

After a nightmare like the one she had today, she wakes up cranky. She grabs a quick breakfast and ignores the rest of the world by holing down somewhere where she can be alone for the rest of the day. She reads the book she borrowed from the Tongues, distracting her mind with theory and sentences configurations of dovahzul, using the focus she needs to put into learning the new language as a way to avoid thinking about the man she still loves.

There is a reason why she’s read so many books in the last two centuries and has so much accumulated knowledge about the world surrounding her. It took her a long time to mourn for her lover and get over his death, but the custom of reading or dedicating those specific days to an investigation of any kind remained. She’ll never forget him, just as a part of her heart will always remain warded solely for him, but she’s learned to deal with the pain and open up to others again.

* * *

The next day,  Nina wakes up early, fresh from the extended rest she got from lazing around in bed all day yesterday. Ri’irr isn’t a lover of early mornings, but the prospect of running at top speed on his fully-sized body gives him all the incentive he needs to get up.

They arrive in record time at Falkreath. A normal person, on foot, needs 12 hours to reach the hold, or only six if they travel by horse or carriage. They arrive at the gates of the city only 3 hours after they departed Whiterun, having plenty of time to catch up with Cicero about the last couple of days and have lunch together before they are to be expected at the Sanctuary by Astrid.

A Sanctuary that has abandoned the tenets and all the bases the Dark Brotherhood has always been ruled by. They’re but a bunch of mercenaries that go by a fancy name and irritates the Night Mother.

As they arrive into the Sanctuary, Astrid is looking at a big map of Skyrim spread out on a table.

“Sister,” Ninada greets Astrid, Cicero is lost on his own world, as usual, mumbling and jumping around.

“Welcome…”

“Ninada Ulvls, I’m Mothers Listener, and he’s her Keeper, Cicero,” Nina motions in direction of the restless jester.

Cicero jumps to attention when his name is called, “Yes! That’s me. Oh, hehehe, sister, hello…”

Astrid hums and sizes him up, dislike evident on her slitted eyes. Apparently, he isn’t up to her standards, as she proceeds to ignore him and puts her complete attention on Nina. A really bad choice, underestimating him; Ninada can be talked around if they don’t like each other but Cicero is probably more dangerous than her, he’s a little mad and knows how to wield a dagger better than Nina. He may seem flighty, but actually, Cicero’s act is just that, a front cover for his highly advanced skills and sharpness.

They’ve shared common space for a month now, and he still surprises Nina some days.

“Is good to know that the Night Mother is back, if anything, it should be easier to get contracts now,” Astrid smiles pleased, “Come, the others are waiting for an introduction.”

As the woman turns, Ninada grabs Cicero’s hand where he’s grasping the handle of his dagger. What possessed the woman? Disparaging the Night Mother’s presence like that will get her to an untimely demise, and she wouldn’t really blame Cicero for ending her. She isn’t much into the cult part of the job, but she knows better than to insult Mother.

“Behave, if she is as bad as Mother warned me, she’ll be all yours to punish anyway. But all at its due time, brother,” she whispers only for him to hear.

They walked deeper into the Sanctuary, which looks somewhat fine, but hardly up to Nina’s standards. How can they live in such disarray? She would have cleaned the place thoroughly before even thinking of calling the place something more than a ruin.

“This is my husband,” Astrid introduces a tall Nord to them, “Arnbjorn,” the man only grunts in their general direction, putting the less effort possible. “Our resident destruction mage, Festus Krex”

“I am delighted you and the Night Mother have arrived. Your presence here signals a welcome return to tradition.”

“Babette, who provides us with any alchemy related concoction we may need,” a little girl waves at them with fake coyness. “Gabriella is our beautiful temptress,”

“Welcome home, brother, sister,” the Dunmer warmly welcomes them, apparently the only one really pleased with their presence besides Festus.

“Our taskmaster, Nazir, is also the best cook you can find around Skyrim and is always ready for some sparring if you find yourself in need of some training.”

“Greetings,” the Redguard voices with sarcasm.

“And Veezara, our very own Shadowscale and the fastest pair of feet you’ll meet.”

“Hello,” the argonian greets neutrally.

“A pleasure,” Nina says softly.

“Oh! Yes, yes, yes! Mother is going to be so pleased to be reunited with her children. It’s such a nice surprise that this Sanctuary survived for so long.”

While Cicero and Ri’irr stay at the common room, Ninada and Astrid walk away to talk.

“How can you stand it?” Astrid asks her, “He is so restless and rackety.”

Nina shrugs, internally thinking of many scathing rebukes for the woman, “He’s the Keeper.”

“So, how does this works then? I must admit, it’s been way too long since we had the Night Mother to guide us, or since we followed the tenets for that matter.”

“I know,” Nina says surprising Astrid, “The Night Mother.”

Astrid’s eyes widen in realization, “Oh… well…”

“Here,” Nina puts a couple of paper sheets on the table between them, without waiting for her to recover from the surprise, “That’s all I’ve got, for now.”

Astrid grabs the sheets, seven new targets laid out for her at the drop of a hat. Targets, places, amounts of gold offered, and even the name and address of the person wanting the jobs done. That is more than she’s capable of gathering in months with just the gossip, much less for seven different jobs. No wonder the Brotherhood of old was so widespread with this kind of support. But then she stops herself and looks sharply at Nina.

“Ok. What is the catch?”

Nina smiles, pleased, “The tenets are reinstated,” Astrid nods not very happy with it, “Punishments are reinstated,” Astrid gulps down breaking a sweat and sighing, “And in due time, when we are in a better position, the Black Hand will also be reinstated.”

“Hmm? No. No! Listen, I don't know what's going on here, but they take their orders from me. Are we clear on that? The Night Mother may have spoken to you, but I am still the leader of this Family and my word is the rule of this Sanctuary. I will not have my authority so easily dismissed.”

Nina was expecting such a reaction, after so many years of her word being obeyed as law, it would be a wonder—and highly suspicious—if Astrid gave up her power over the rest of the Brotherhood members without a fight.

Nina stands with an emotionless facade, “Your loss then,” she shrugs, “I thought that you may be more rational, but if that is your wish…” and she throws a little bit of bate, “But don’t expect us to cooperate with your lot in the future, I am the Listener of the Dark Brotherhood, not a family of mercenaries, Mother’s words are the only rule in her Sanctuary,” hook, line, and sinker!

“Wh-Wait a moment!” Astrid stands after a couple of emotions crosses her face, “I... I need time to think about all this. Can we discuss the matter further when I’ve had some time to think about this?” Astrid administered this mockery of Brotherhood for long, she knows that she’ll have to fight tooth and nail to get one measly contract without the help of the all-knowing Night Mother.

Ninada knows this too, that’s the exact reason why she gave Astrid those contracts before they got to talk further, the woman will think twice before giving her a final decision now. Mercenaries, after all, care more for money than anything else. Once they start to feel the pressure for lack of funds, the ones who care for money will leave and find other things to do, while the real assassins dedicated to Sithis will seek the real Dark Brotherhood and join them.

Ninada keeps silent for a few seconds, intensifying the tension in the air and staring down at Astrid as she does her children when they—rarely—misbehave, “Very well, send a message to Breezehome, at Whiterun, when you’re ready. I’ll visit when I have time.”

Apparently, Nina’s gaze of ‘you’re in trouble’ is as useful with Astrid as it is with the rest of her children as the woman merely nods, wary of moving and causing any more negative reactions.

They walk into the kitchen and find Arnbjorn with his battle-axe in hand, positioned to attack, as Cicero mirrors him. There is a pregnant silence in the room as the two men wait for an opening to attack while the rest of them watch and wait for the action to start.

Just then, Festus enters the room, book at hand and head bent over it, “I can’t believe my eyes,” he exclaims to the little vampire-girl next to him, “There's writing of a Ninada Ulvls who worked for the Brotherhood back in the 433 of the 3E! Could she be the…” and he raises his head, catching the tense confrontation set in the middle of the room, “...same?”

Nina smiles, “Keeper, the fifth tenet,” she warns him with a calm voice and Cicero sheepishly relaxes with an apology, “And, yes, Festus. I was officially inducted into the Brotherhood the 10 of Sun’s Dusk of that year by Cael, the Listener of that time, and Arquen, a Silencer; the only survivors of the last Purification the Brotherhood had to endure.”

“A Purification?” Astrid asks with surprise and dread.

“Ah, yes… I almost forgot,” she proceeds then to take the Wabbajack from storage and talks close to the mouths at the top of it, “Hey, Cael, you there?”

All of them wait, holding their breaths until noise can be heard coming from the staff in her hands.

“Yesss? Who’s thisss?”

“Cut the crap and bring you handsome arse over here,” she says with exasperation, ignoring the affronted gasp from Cicero.

“The Listener shouldn’t talk like that to… an ex-Listener? How does that work? Cicero is confused!”

All the people in the room back off when a violet portal forms in the middle of the room. A silhouette comes out of it and Nina puts the staff away. Cael, dressed in the half and half coloured suit, makes a dramatic pose once the flash of the portal is gone and shouts ‘Ta-da!’

“Come down of there, you buffon,” she tells him, smiling and opening her arms wide for a hug, exclamations of surprise and trepidation mix behind her but she ignores them.

Cael smiles widely and like a lunatic, launches himself at her from where he was standing over the table.

“My dear, sweet, fearless, lovely Nina”

“My favourite, dear madman,” she says with fond exasperation.

“Nina, Oh, how I missed you!” Cael shouts, making her wince as he’s still hugging her.

“We saw each other yesterday…” she mumbles.

“Still!” And he releases her, looking around and breathing deeply, “Oh, Dark brothers and sisters! Hello, hello, how good to meet you all. HASKILL!” Cael shouts without taking a break and his chamberlain appears, “Hasky brings us some tea and sweets.”

“Right away Lord Sheogorath,” Haskill answers monotonously, as always, and reappears not a minute later, laying lots of things on the table where Cael drags her to sit.

“Cicero, you should try this, Haskill’s strawberry tortes are to die for!” Nina gushes cutting a bite from one as Cael prepares them the tea.

And as the madman that Cicero is himself, he strouts and sits next to her.

“Anything else you require my lord?” Haskill, always subservient, asks.

“No, no. That’s all for now, go make sure the Duke of Mania and Duchess of Dementia don’t start the party without me, or I will pluck their eyes and feed them to that pretty scalon that watches over the Hill of Suicides, so they’ll need to fight it if they want them back!”

“Cael, this is Cicero, I told you about him,” Nina cuts in and Haskill leaves.

“Yes, yes! The madman that you said makes you remember about my gorgeous self. Not that anyone can be like me but me, mine and myself! Ha! Do try the cheese bread, Haskill is incredibly skilled at baking those too,” he tells Cicero putting a cup of tea in front of the jester, “I so love your outfit!”

“Oh, thank you, thank you! Your suit is very you, Lord Sheogorath,” Cicero says, in his normal tone of voice, “Or should I call you Listener? Cicero is so confused about this situation…”

All this happens with the rest of the Brotherhood looking around them, frozen in place, sceptics of what is happening in front of their very eyes. Nina believes she heard ‘I am confused too’ from someone in the room.

* * *

“...so there we were, tired after fighting all those draugrs and what do I get? A mysterious note telling me to go somewhere else!” Nina sighs sipping her tea as Cael tries the same, with some difficulty as Ri’irr is butting his head against the Mad God’s chest begging for some petting, “Ri’irr, sweety, let uncle Cael have his tea.”

Ri’irr sits, leaving his face on Cael’s lap as he gets some nice scratches behind his ears.

“Cicero, will you stay here, go along with me or back with Mother? I need to investigate that note and go up to High Hrothgar…”

“Cicero needs to tend to Mother, oil all the hard to reach places…” the madman giggled, making the MadGod giggle too.

“I imagine you have to. Mother was warded under the statue of The Lucky Old Lady when I was working with this bunch of psychopaths so no one had the honour of being the Keeper, lucky you my friend, lucky you! But I still have people talking in my head, Nina does it all the time, so I don’t feel lonely…”

“Cicero doesn’t have any voices in his head…” the jester whispers morosely.

“I will speak with you if…”

“No!” Nina shouts panicking, “There’s no need of that, Cicero was joking-”

“Cicero wasn-”

Nina puts her hand over his mouth, “Keeper, shut it,” she whispers and stands, tugging Cicero along, “Son, be a dear and bring momma’s and Cicero’s bags, we’ll wait for you outside…” and she waves with one hand at Cael while the other keeps Cicero silenced and tugs him in an awkward position with his head press against her chest. “I love your visits Sheo, but I think I’ll leave you to straighten them out about those things we talked about, I need to leave now. You know how it is... places to be, buts to kick...”

Cicero waves, Sheogorath waves back, and the rest of the Dark Brotherhood fear for their lives… and sanity, as they watch their visitors leave, letting a Mad God loose on them.

“I was going to gift her a new spell, so she can teleport to wherever she wanted instantly, but I guess I’ll wait until next time as she is so desperate to leave my wonderful company,” Sheogorath shouts deviously and Nina grunts with regret as that would have been a damn useful spell… “Now, I’ve heard that you have forgone the Five Tenets that have ruled the Brotherhood since Mother herself was alive and kicking! How rude of you! And pretentious…”

And as Listener and Keeper, with a Senche-Raht khajiit hot on their tracks get out of the Sanctuary, they are ignorant of the madness that befalls over Astrid’s Sanctuary for the next couple of days. Ninada feels a dreadful shiver run down her spine just imagining it.

Nina releases the jester then, who pouts, “Are we back at walking normally? Cicero was enjoying himself…” and he ghosts his hands over Nina’s assets before she walks away, “The Listener has a nice and warm chest…” he whispers.

Nina’s only answer is to raise an eyebrow with amusement and proceeds to mount on Ri’irr’s back, “To Riverwood if you please, son,” Ri’irr meows while Cicero twits around and decides to accompany the Listener to the next city at least, hoping about getting some more fondling.

Ten minutes into the journey, Cicero was grabbed and thrown on top of Ri’irr as the khajiit got bored of walking so slow.

“Alvor,” Nina calls for the man working on the forge as they arrive into Riverwood.

“Oh, nice of you to visit Ninada, thank you for what you did. With the soldiers patrolling around we feel much safer.”

“It was my pleasure. I was wondering if I could leave you some weapons to polish and sharpen while I take care of some business?”

“But of course, leave them by the bench over there, I’ll finish this quickly and take care of them.”

Ninada proceeds to leave two daggers and a sword, telling Cicero to put his weapons there too if he wishes and as he does, Nina passes him an extra dagger, “Just in case we need it,” she whispers at him, hanging Sanguine’s Rose to her back for easy access.

As Ri’irr decides to enjoy a nap under the sun, near the river, only Nina and Cicero walk into the Sleeping Giant Inn.

“Here Cicero,” Nina puts a few coins on his hand, “buy some dried meat and whatever you think will need of food for the next day or so please, we’re low on cheese too, and you can buy sweetrolls but don’t eat more than one, I’m not cuddling you when the sugar-rush wears off. I’ll go see about our rooms.”

Cicero walks away with a pout, he doesn’t like his sweetrolls doses limited but is something Nina had to establish as he would otherwise get out of shape as Aventus buys them often back at the Sanctuary. Last time, Cicero eat five of them in a day. Once the sugar-rush wore off he was tired, snappy and with a bad case of stomach ache. Nina had to cuddle with him as she was the only one who could get close with him feeling weak and on edge; as the Listener, Cicero has too much respect for her as to attack.

“Hello, I need to talk to you for a room, right?” Nina asks, getting closer to the blond woman she saw but once before.

“Yes, I’m Delphine.”

“Can I have the attic room, please?” Nina asks while inspecting the woman in front of her, she looks way too fit and her posture is all wrong for a simple wench. She has the stance of a trained fighter…

“Attic room eh? Well… we don’t have an attic room, but you can have the one on the left.”

Nina sighs exasperated and walks into the room the innkeeper gave her and waits for Cicero. They have a meal at noon and as Cicero got bored, he walked outside to find Ri’irr for some sparring. After some time, muttering from the people at the inn ceases as the last person leaves.

Delphine walks into the room then, finding Nina sprawled on the bed, reading. “So you're the Dragonborn I've been hearing so much about. I think you're looking for this. We need to talk. Follow me.”

She puts the horn on her bag and follows after the woman, miffed that she thinks she can order her around like that. They walk into the big room at the other side of the inn and when Nina closes the door, Delphine opens a secret door hidden on the wardrobe.

They look at each other for a moment once they’re down the secret passage, “The Greybeards seem to think you're the Dragonborn. I hope they're right,” Delphine finally says with a sigh.

“And you’re the one who took the horn…” Nina rolls her head, assessing the tense woman in front of her, “Why?”

“It was the only way I could make sure it wasn't a Thalmor trap. I'm not your enemy. I already gave you the horn. I'm actually trying to help you. I just need you to hear me out.”

“I’m all ears.”

“As I said in my note, I've heard that you might be Dragonborn. But you'll forgive me if I don't assume that something is true just because the Greybeards say so. I just handed you the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller. Does that make me Dragonborn, too?”

“What does it matter to you if I’m the Dragonborn or not?”

“We remember what most don't—that the Dragonborn is the ultimate dragon-slayer. You're the only one that can kill a dragon permanently by devouring its soul. Can you do it? Can you devour a dragon's soul?”

We? Who’s we? “Yes,” Nina answers with distaste, it happened way too many times already to try and deny it.

“Good. And you'll have a chance to prove it to me soon enough.”

That is the last straw for Nina, as she snaps, “What's the part you're not telling me?” She asks before taking any permanent decisions just yet...

“Dragons aren't just coming back, they're coming back to life. They weren't gone somewhere for all these years. They were dead, killed off centuries ago by my predecessors. Now, something's happening to bring them back to life. And I need you to help me stop it.”

“Your predecessors…” An arrogant and pushy woman, she orders Nina around and expects her to follow like a mindless puppet… Nina laughs, startling Delphine, “Damn you’re one of those obnoxious Blades, aren’t you? That’s why you mentioned a provable ‘Thalmor Trap’...”

Delphine changes her stance then, “How dare you!” she splutters angrily and swings her dagger out.

Neither slow nor lazy, Nina brandishes her staff, summoning a dremora and resting her back against the door frame, “A challenge!” the Valkynaz shouts and Delphine whitens. “You are weak, mortal.”

“Hold your horses big guy,” Nina says at him, grabbing one of his pauldron spikes and she whispers at him “I don’t want her dead yet, I need answers. Stay beside me looking intimidating, that’s all I want for now.”

“I smell weakness...” the dremora drawls, standing back anyway.

“You better not be talking about me or I’ll kick your ass, Johnny,” Nina warns loudly and with a glare in his direction, he smiles.

“You'd better start explaining. Fast,” Nina threatens the innkeeper, “This guy isn’t just a pretty face,” she says patting his armoured abs and the Valkynaz snorts.

“I'm one of the last members of the Blades, not that anyone even remembers our name these days... A very long time ago, the Blades were dragonslayers, and we served the Dragonborn, the greatest dragonslayer. We used to be known across Tamriel as the protectors of the Septim Emperors. Those days are long gone, though. For the last two hundred years, since the last Dragonborn emperor, the Blades have been searching for a purpose, we've been searching for the next Dragonborn to guide and guard, as we are sworn to do. But we never found one. Until now... Now that dragons are coming back, our purpose is clear again. We need to stop them,” Delphine talks in a clipped tone.

Nina hums neutrally… She’s never liked the Blades that much and this one irritates her. Delphine is but a mockery in comparison with the real Blades that she fought alongside many years ago; the woman is nosy, domineering, and way too cagey. What to do?

“Johnny,” the Valkynaz starts to attention, “Go outside and bring me the jester and the khajiit that are near the river,” the dremora grunts and walks away.

“Now what?” Delphine snaps.

“Now, you decide how this-” Nina motions with a finger in a circle, “ends for you.” Nina moves, letting the others enter the room, “You have three options here my dear Blade,” Nina raises one finger, “One: you’re helpful and straightforward with your information, we help each other, you stop bossing me around like I’m your dog and we can form some kind of plan to stop Alduin from resurrecting dragons and destroying Nirn;” she raises a second finger then, “Two: if you prefer to keep away, I’ll go and won’t come back, we don’t see each other, you do your thing and I do mine;” a third finger makes an appearance, “Three: You do something stupid to anger me and I’ll set the Thalmor after you, I’m sure my lovely Altmer friend Athyarel, the Third-Councilor of Herself, will be more than happy with my assistance. Oh! And the Thieves Guild too, you’ll have no place to hide…”

Cicero jumps in his place, excited, “Oh, he he he! What about us, sister?” he asks.

“Of course, thank you for reminding me, brother. How could I forget the Dark Brotherhood?” Nina smiles at the jester, ignoring the shivering Delphine in the room.

“Ha ha ha! Lord Dagon will get a good laugh out of this. Puny mortals...”

“No, no, wait until the monthly party at Sanguine’s,” Nina giggles, sharing a mischievous smile with the Valkynaz, “I’ll even summon you so you can watch the Princes’ piss themselves with laughter,” she proposes and ‘Johnny’ agrees with enthusiasm. “So?” Nina puts her attention back on Delphine once more, “What is gonna be then?”

“You’re a monster,” Delphine grits her teeth trying to control her ire, “You don’t deserve being Dragonborn,” the Blade spats.

“Why, thank you,” Nina touches her chest, mocking Delphine, “And just for the record, I didn’t ask for this Dragonborn bullshit,” Nina growls, “Pick wisely, woman. I’m getting tired of your attitude.”

As Delphine seems to think about her options, Nina grabs a sweetroll and some Colovian Brandy from her pouch and gives them to the dremora, “Thank you for your patience Johnny, maybe next time I’ll have someone for you to tear in pieces as you like,” and the Valkynaz disappears back to Oblivion with a pleased smile.

“I will take the first option, I may dislike you, but that is no reason to let this... Alduin was it? Destroy the world,” Delphine looks like she just sucked a lemon as she said this.

“Very well, I don’t like you either, but I know how to be professional about a situation,” Nina sighs and takes out another brandy out, “I don’t know you, but I need a drink.”

Delphine passes some goblets from the shelf behind her and Nina pours the drinks. Delphine takes a long swing, grimacing.

“How are you so sure that Alduin, whoever he is, is raising the dragons. I’m more suspicious of the Thalmor.”

Nina snorts, “Of course you are,” and puts the Book of the Dragonborn in the table, “Read the last page.”

“When misrule takes its place at the eight corners of the world; When the Brass Tower walks and Time is reshaped; When the thrice-blessed fail and the Red Tower trembles; When the Dragonborn Ruler loses his throne, and the White Tower falls; When the Snow Tower lies sundered, kingless, bleeding; The World-Eater wakes, and the Wheel turns upon the Last Dragonborn. What is this nonsense about?” Delphine harrumphs.

“The first line of the prophecy became real when Tharn broke the Staff of Chaos into eight pieces that he hid all around Tamriel,” Delphine frowns, “The second line refers to Iliac Bay, the Warp of the West?” Delphine nods, “The third: Nerevarine reappears in Morrowind, defeats the Tribunal and destroys Lorkhan’s heart. The fourth: the Hero of Kvatch and the Oblivion Crisis. The fifth: Ulfric kills King Torygg. The sixth: Alduin, the World-Eater, trounces Skyrim once more and the Last Dragonborn appears”

“The return of these things was prophesied?” Delphine asks looking betrayed.

“Someone didn’t pay attention in class,” Nina teases her, gaining a glare.

“How do we stop Alduin if he is prophesied to eat the world?”

“Who knows?” Nina shrugs, “I’m taking the horn to the Tongues and I’ll ask them about this.”

“I need to find a way into the Thalmor Embassy, they may know something…” Nina rolls her eyes.

“Let me know if you find anything, I’m out of here,” Nina shakes the sleeping forms of Cicero and Ri’irr, “Don’t forget our deal Delphine,” she warns the woman, “If you need to talk, send a letter at Breezehome in Whiterun. I’ll take some time to answer though…”

* * *

Cicero left, back to Mother’s side, so Nina is alone with Ri’irr as they enter the Tongues' monastery.

“Hello?”

She walks deeper into the cold room but only silence greets her, “Ri’irr stay by the fire, I know you don’t like it much here, I’ll look for Master Arngeir and be back.”

She walks away, to the left, where the monastery bedroom lies and the sleeping Tongues surely are at this late time. She sneaks up to Arngeir and gently wakes him.

“Dovahkiin?” he whispers sleepily.

“Shush, don’t get up, I just wanted to warn you that I arrived, I’ll put my bedroll near some fire and we’ll talk in the morning, go back to rest Master Arngeir.”

The next day she woke up to a strong blizzard that left her stuck on High Hrothgar for three days, but she got her answers. Arngeir was as contemptuous with the Blades as she is, he likes her better for it. He said that maybe their leader, Paarthurnax, may know more about Alduin’s return and they proceed to teach her a shout; Clear Sky.

That would have been really useful to know before, the blizzard meaning nothing against the power of her thu’um. Why did she have to pull their teeth to get them to teach her? Ugh, old people… They think they know everything. But Nina is old too and she isn’t so damn cagey.

It’s twelve already when Nina goes all the way up the mountain… and is greeted by a dragon.

“You are a dragon…” she mumbles with surprise, admiring his massive body up close. Generally, dragons attack her and after killing them they burn, this is a unique chance she’s got here.

“Drem Yol Lok, Dovahkiin…”

She wasn’t expecting to find a dragon up there, so it is kind of comprehensible when she spends the rest of the day speaking with him, right?

Ri’irr doesn’t seem to think the same as he pins her body to the hard, cold floor and licks her, hissing his worries at her face, “Ow ok, ok, sorry, I won’t leave you again. I said sorry, stop. I was just talking with a dragon! I think that is all that should be said about it. No! Ri’irr get off. It’s a damn dragon, of course I got curious.”

“Dovahkiin,” Arngeir calls her, smiling at them, “Was Paarthurnax able to help?”

“Something like that. I now know that Alduin was only banished through time and space the last time men confronted him, with an Elder Scroll even, but not defeated. Only the Dragonborn of prophecy can properly defeat him, or so he seems to believe.”

“Humm, what will you do now?”

“I’ll have to see if Delphine can discover something with the Blades,” Arngeir scowls, “Believe me, I know how you feel, I really dislike her too.”


	5. A soirée, dancing with dragons

###### 13 Evening Star, 4E 201, Temple of Dibella

Nina wakes up with a strong headache, on the cold floor of an unknown place, and a pair of feet in front of her face. She looks up and the face of a woman greets her, an angry woman. The priestess of Dibella makes her clean up the things Nina left thrown around the temple—not that she remembers much of it—and after giving the priestess an apology, Nina stumbles out of the temple, getting a good look of the city of Markarth from the high balcony.

Yesterday, after getting down High Hrothgar, she visited Delphine to plan their next move, not that they had that much new information to exchange. After that, she arrived late at Whiterun and left Ri’irr to get some rest at Breezehome, going alone to the Bannered Mare for dinner.

She wasn’t expecting to find Sanguine—disguised as a human—having a drinking competition in there, but she should have known better than to expect anything but a wild night after he got involved. By the end of the night, Nina was the only one keeping up with the Daedric Prince, the others long since unconscious or back at home.

The last thing she remembers is sneaking into Dibella’s temple to fill two bottles with holy-water as Sanguine dared her, but she stumbled on her half drunken state, falling to the floor, and losing consciousness.

At least she still has her mage’s pouch with most of her things stored inside.

Hungry, thirsty and with a bad case of a hangover, she walks around the city until she finds the Silver-Blood Inn and gets food. She’s sitting on a table, finishing her goblet of wine, when K’arr sits on the free chair.

“Hello mother, I’m surprised to find you here.”

“That makes two of us, son,” Nina laughs and pats his arm, “You’re here for a job?” she asks.

“Yes, I’m waiting to talk with a redguard, he should be here anytime.”

Nina orders two sweetrolls for them and they eat for a while until a family of three enters the room not too long after. K’arr raises his hand and the redguard with the family walks up to them, sitting on the offered chair.

“I have your silver mold.”

“You've more than proven that the Thieves Guild is back on its feet in our city and earned every bit of your reward. Tell Delvin that he can count on me to provide the influence around here with the right people when he needs it. If you're ever looking to sell any illegally obtained merchandise, I'd also provide my services as a fence. It's the least I can do,” the man whispers this to K’arr and leaves to sit with his family at another table.

“Things are getting better then?” Nina asks.

“Pretty much yeah,” K’arr nods with a smile.

A man enters the inn an hour later; clad in leather armour, blind of one eye, and whitened hair from old age. K’arr stands after the man sits near the innkeeper and asks for mead.

“Do you feel like taking a stroll, mother?” K’arr asks with mischief lacing his words.

“This sounds promising,” Nina smiles and follows after him.

They walk outside, up to a set of stairs and into a house, after K’arr picked the lock on the door.

“I need to find an amulet of Talos…” K’arr explains and starts the search, “A Thalmor Justiciar is paying me for it. Can you believe it? I think this is the first lazy Justiciar I’ve ever met,” he laughs.

“There’s a first for everything,” Nina drawls with a smile, moving around and peeking behind furniture, under plates, inside drawers, and anywhere else that the amulet may be found.

As the house is small, it takes little to no time to find what they are after. K’arr opens a chest and grabs the amulet on his hand with an ‘Aha!’ exclamation.

They make sure to leave everything around the house as they found it, sneaking out the door and locking it once more. As they walk in the direction of Understone keep, Nina complains about the number of stairs they have to climb, she’s still nursing a headache and doesn't enjoy the constant ups and downs.

The keep is full of people at this time of the night, most of them having dinner. They walk deeper, into a long hall to the right, with many doors. Two altmers dressed with elven armour stand at each side of one door, Nina rests her back to the wall as K’arr knocks on it, under the watchful eyes of the pair of females.

“What is the meaning of this interruption! Oh, you are that khajiit…”

“I found the amulet in Ogmund's house,” K’arr says passing the necklace.

“Ah, there we have it. This will be all I need to have Ogmund taken care of. I would like to personally thank you on behalf of myself and the Thalmor for your assistance. Here, for your work.”

Nina peeks from K’arr’s shoulder as they exchange a bag of gold, she found the voice of the Justiciar familiar and got closer to have a better look. As their eyes cross they get a nice surprise.

“Well, would you look at that, if it isn’t my favourite nephew!” Nina smiles at the shocked altmer, “What? There isn’t a hug for you preferred aunty?” Nina asks opening her arms and he rushes into her hold.

“Aunty is so good to see you,” Ondolemar says, his words and actions surprising the guards who never saw him like that before.

“I didn’t know you were around here or I would have visited much sooner,” she said as they step apart, appraising his figure, “Don’t you look handsome in that Justiciar uniform!” and she pats his cheek making him blush.

“Stop that aunt Nina, I’m not a kid anymore,” he pouts, straightening his impeccable clothes.

“No, you aren’t, but it’s still nice to baby my cute nephew,” she says swatting away the arm trying to pry her away, glaring at the guard who backs off quickly. “Control your pets Ondolemar, I’d hate to have to harm the pretty ladies.”

“Please get in,” he invites her, along with K’arr, to sit around the table on his room, “Behave,” he says coldly to the guards and they stop glaring at the Khajiit and Falmer in the room. “I’m sorry about that, they’re always so overprotective…”

“Ah, yes, females still get lost into your charms I see,” Nina winks at him and Ondolemar scoffs.

“Please, they’re such a nuisance,” he complains while pouring them some wine, “I thought things would be different once I got a serious job,” and shaking his head, he adds “But they got worse if anything. I had to pry a naked Justiciar partner only a week after getting into this job and it’s only gotten worse since,” he rolls his eyes, sitting at the table with them and releasing a long-suffering sigh.

K’arr laughs and Nina gives the altmer a pat on his shoulder, “Oh you poor thing, hounded by an army of horny deviants,” she mocked him ignoring his glare. “How is your mother? It’s been so long since I last heard from her.”

“She’s fine, she was sent back home not so long ago because Herself asked for her presence, Elenwen is replacing her at the embassy right now, not that her skills can be compared to mother’s in any way. The First-Emissary throws parties within two or three months in between, in a futile intent of gaining favour with Skyrim’s high society,” Ondolemar sneers, “Not that the high society here is worth much attention anyway; a Jarl that proclaims to have ‘visions’, a businesswoman that support thieves,” K’arr hisses at him and the mer backpedals, “I mean no offence of course.”

K’arr huffs and Nina laughs, “Wasn’t Elenwen that cousin of yours that was into arts?”

“No, no,” Ondolemar shakes his head, “You’re confusing her with Helnwen, uncle Henaron’s daughter. Elenwen and I have no relations in common and thank the Divines for that. The woman is such a pest.”

Nina gets an idea into her head then, maybe she can find a way into the Thalmor embassy as Delphine wanted, she could find then how much they know of the situation with the dragons, “Maybe if you get me invited for the next one you won’t be so bored. I’m officially the Queen of the Falmer now, that’s why I’m around here, my sister sent a letter to let me know that father died while I was at Alinor for the new year.”

“My condolences,” Ondolemar says and Nina nods thankfully, “And I would be more than happy to get you there. Elenwen’s parties are horrid at best, I’m sure you can liven things up if you go. Unfortunately, she makes it impossible for us to skip the parties as all Justiciars must attend, otherwise, I wouldn't bother.”

“When do you think the next one will take place?”

“Let me take a look, I’ve got the notification around here…” he stands and starts moving things around until he finds a little piece of paper, “Here. It says… the first of morning star. More than enough time to convince her to invite you. Never thought I’ll be looking forward to one of Elenwen’s soirees,” all three of them laugh.

“Well, I think it’s time to leave, I’m getting tired,” Nina stands and the males follow suit, “It was good seeing you again dear.”

“How long are you staying?” Ondolemar inquires.

“I’m afraid I have to leave in the morning. I promised a couple of friends that I’ll pick them up at Falkreath on the eighteen and I still have to travel to Danwstar first, to pick a few things I ordered from a merchant.”

“Where can I write to you then?”

“I have a house in Whiterun, Breezehome. My cousin Vyrthur is staying there often, as I and the kids travel frequently, we mostly just stay a couple of nights per month.”

“I’ll write to you with the invite when I get it then.”

They say their goodbyes and leave. Walking through many stairs once more as they make their way to the inn.

“Are you going to that party for him or is this somewhat related to your job,” K’arr inquires.

Nina smiles, “In part is for him, I always had a soft spot for Ondolemar, remember me to tell you the story about how we met; but it’s also because of the dragons, I need information that Delphine thinks they may have. Are you going to be busy around the date of the party? I may need the help of those new skills you’ve been talking about in your letters.”

K’arr hums and nods, “Crashing the Thalmor Embassy and sneaking around? Have I told you how much I love you mother?” he asks with a smile.

Nina hugs him with one arm as they walk and laughs, “I love you too kiddo.”

###### 15 Evening Star, 4E 201, Dawnstar Sanctuary

Nina enters the Sanctuary to find it a mess. Cicero is causing a ruckus as usual, but this time Ri’irr is also in the middle of the mess as she can hear him meowing and hissing, the sound of things breaking reaches her ears as she goes down the stairs and finds Aventus and Erandur sitting in the main room, tea and sweetrolls on the table.

“Evening, brothers,” Nina greets and Aventus launches himself hugging her tightly while Erandur returns the placid tone, “What is going on with those two?” she asks with a motion of her head in the direction where the sounds come from.

“The Keeper has been most worried since Ri’irr arrived alone,” Erandur explains and she winced, “As none of us can understand him, we had no way to know what happened to y-”

“LISTENER!” Cicero shouts entering the room and proceeds to examine her figure in search of damage.

“Meow,” R’sien claws his way up Nina’s shoulder and licks her cheek once there.

“Hello son, I’ve missed you too. I’m sorry for worrying you, it wasn’t my intention,” and she pets Ri’irr as he rubs against her legs with a loud ‘meow’, “I know, I’m sorry.”

Cicero finishes his inspection and gives her a tight hug, “Cicero was so worried, Cicero though the Listener got hurt and that’s why she didn’t come back to us. Mother would have been so angry with Cicero, after all Cicero left the Listener alone when he could have stayed for a few more days…”

“Keeper, mother needed you, you had to come back to the Sanctuary. Don’t worry, I’m here now,” she rubs his back soothingly as Cicero still hugs her and looks at Erandur, “Everything alright here beyond my unexpected disappearance?”

“Everything has been fine, sister,” he confirms.

“Well, I have good and bad news, Why don’t we sit Cicero?” he sits on a chair but instead of letting her take another, he makes her sit on his lap and hugs her once more, Erandur passes her a cup of tea and looks at them with amusement, “okay then… I’ve got a response from Astrid, she agrees with my demands and swears to do as I say if I never sick Cael on them again. As I know my friend, I’m not going to ask what he did to them and you shouldn’t either, if you appreciate your sanities.”

“We’re going to start working with them then?” Erandur asks.

“Can I meet the werewolf?!” Aventus smiles and jumps on his seat.

“Yes, and yes,” Nina nods, “I need to do a couple of things after Delvin comes to install all of the furniture, and this is the bad news, I’m gonna be busy until the third of the next month or so, I’m not completely sure yet. But I will see if Mother has work for us before leaving, maybe you can take one or two contracts Erandur,” he smiles and this time he doesn't look as apprehensive as the first time she voiced her idea.

“You can’t leave Cicero for so long Listener!” Cicero complains and pouts.

“I have many things to do Cicero, I can’t stay enclosed here all the time,” she says with a sigh, “Aventus, have you been training?”

“Yes!” The kid said enthusiastically, “Cicero taught me how to use a dagger as he does. I hope to be as skilled with one as he is in the future!”

“Good, I’m gonna test your advances tomorrow. What about you Erandur?”

“I’m improving my alchemy, Cicero taught me many receipts for poisons that are going to be useful for us in the future. Also, as restoration and conjuration aren’t that useful for stealth, Cicero also taught me how to sneak and some handy illusion and alteration spells.”

“I’ve bought many books for our new library, I’m sure you’re going to find some useful things in there. I have to visit the palace soon, so I’ll make sure to bring some of the oldest tomes I have with interesting spells and alchemy receipts.”

“When is the furniture arriving?” Erandur asks.

“Delvin should be here in the morning, he’s travelling at night because of the big amount of things he’s bringing and he doesn’t want to call too much attention. Be ready to wake up early all of you. Good night, brothers,” they return their own good night’s as she walks to her room.

She changes her armour for a silk nightgown, with her back at the room, and turning around she realizes that Cicero followed her into the room.

“Are you sleeping here, Cicero?” he nods mutely, still bothered by her earlier words it seems, “Go change your clothes then, your leather jacket scraped my skin the last time you sneaked into my bed.”

“Cicero doesn’t have pyjamas,” he whispers.

“Why didn’t you mention it, Cicero? I could have bought you some or give you the money for them if you don't have.”

“Cicero usually sleeps naked…”

“Oh… well, that doesn’t bother me, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Cicero turns his head, thinking, and after a few seconds stands up as Nina gets comfortable on the bed, but as the weight on the other side of the bed never arrives she opens one eye to make sure he didn’t just leave.

He’s there, completely naked, “Are you getting on the bed or what? And turn off the candles, please,” she says and Cicero smiles doing as she said.

* * *

The next day, Nina wakes up slightly cold and sneezes… Cicero stole the covers, again. She walks to the hearth and after starting the fire once more, she puts water to warm up so she can take a bath and walks back to the bed to wait for a few minutes.

Cicero is awake when she gets under the covers again, “Morning, brother,” she greets him with a smile, “I put water on the fire. Will you bathe?”

“Only if I can get in the tub with you,” he whispers, his voice rough from sleep, and his tone weirdly serious in comparison to his usual loud squeals.

“It depends.”

“On what?”

“Are we only going to take a bath?” she asks with a tone of voice that implies many things.

Cicero’s bright smile illuminates his face taking a few years off of him, “Thought you’d never ask.”

They walk out of her room an hour later, walking into the main room to find Erandur already preparing breakfast.

“Good morning, dear brother,” Cicero spouts with more mirth than usual and gives a quick hug to the Dunmer.

“Morning, brother, sister,” the mer says, receiving a nod from Nina while Cicero sits and puts her on his lap once more. As Aventus drags his feet into the room, rubbing his sleepy face, Erandur shakes his head after staring at the two on the table, “That’s too many levels of crazy to think about…” he whispers and turns back to preparing breakfast.

“What is Erandur talking about?” murmurs Aventus as he takes his place on the table.

Nina opens her eyes wide, “Shit,” she curses forgetting to use the ‘kids filter’, “I forgot that you may need to have the talk. I’m not it!” She suddenly and loudly states.

“Cicero is not it!” The jester laughs maniacally.

Erandur puts the breakfast on the table and whines, “That’s not fair…”

* * *

After breakfast, Nina and Aventus start sparring as she tests his skills, she’s happy to notice that the kid has certainly improved. She teaches him some magic and they wait until a knock comes from the entrance door a while later.

The skyline is a deep orange as the sun is just rising outside, Nina greets Delvin and the other two thieves with him as her brothers start helping to unload the carts. With Delvin knowing which crate has what and Nina arranging the things as they’re left on the main room, they empty the carts in no time and everything is mostly in its place.

Delvin and the other two take charge of installing the torture chamber, as that needs them to work on the stone wall. Meanwhile, Nina and her brothers adjust the rest of the rooms.

Delvin, Cynric and Thrynn leave after lunch with thanks from all of them and by that evening the four Brotherhood members are tired after working around the Sanctuary the entire day. Now they have proper living accommodations.

Nina is pleased with all the hard work they put and cooks them something special as Erandur prepares dinner; they’ll have Sunlight Souffle’ for dessert.

###### 18 Evening Star, 4E 201, Docks of Solitude

“Vittoria?” Nina calls from the counter and the woman that was sitting reviewing papers shot from the table.

“Nina, so good to see you!”

They talk for a long time, as Nina waits for the people to get down the ship that arrived a while ago. Aventus, R’sien and Ri’irr are waiting with their carriage in the stables.

Is not long after that a group of white-haired people walks in their direction, two identical males running the last meters of distance and hugging Nina in a crushing embrace.

“Fandanyis,” she kisses the cheeks of the brother with the blue eyes, “Girriath,” she kisses the one with grey eyes, “Is so good to see you again!”

“Someone forgot to mention our hostess is such a gorgeous creature,” a Falmer with golden eyes steals her attention and kisses the back of her hand, “Sivus Shanlen, at your service, my Queen,” and as he stands back Nina admires his brawny shape, muscles rippling under tight clothes.

“Nice to meet you, Ninada Ulvls,” she curtsies and smiles at him.

Another male shoves Sivus, this one has bright green eyes and long hair braided down his back, he is thinner but equally handsome like the other. He bows to her, “Kidalor Uremyn, your majesty.”

“Nice to meet you, Kidalor.”

And as three similar elves step up, Fandanyis introduce them, “Vyrpiroth, Vyrprith, and Vyrvhis Agtan,” and as their names are called they bow at her.

“Nice to meet you, and welcome,” she greets them and turns to give Vittoria a wave before leaving, “Let’s go, I have carriages waiting for us.”

“How has life treated you lately dear?” Girriath asks hanging his arm on her shoulders as they walk to the stables.

As they are too many, they travel in two carriages. They talk and tell stories about their lives, getting to know the new faces and in the case of Nina and the twins, reinstating their old camaraderie.

Aventus is the only one feeling left out, as the only kid thrown in the middle of the group of over a millennia-old mer, so he decides to travel on top of Ri’irr and fakes having conversations with R’sien, like he witnessed Nina doing many times.

When they arrive at Whiterun, the Bannered Mare is overrun by the Falmers for the night, although Hulda is more than happy to tend to them as this means more gold for her. Vyrthur also is content with the presence of other males around and decides to travel along, creating a fast friendship with Vyrvhis and gaining many glares from the Agtan males.

At the palace, Nina gets inside first, making sure to refresh the females' memories about their talk, so no new problems surge with the visitors.

Everyone seem to settle down nicely at the palace, or at least the males look happier. Aventus and Blaise become inseparable from the moment they cross gazes.

Nina deals with the accumulated responsibilities from the palace with Taarie on her shoulder, things are as good as she expected with all the income from the trading they do with the Khajiit caravans, as Nina sends weekly carriages with loot from all the caves and ancient crypts she visits, they have lots of things to trade with the khajiit.

As there are two kids instead of one, they study and train together, exchanging spells and tricks with their weapons of choice. But, as they’re only excited kids, Aventus makes a tiny mistake and babbles about the Dark Brotherhood to Blaise. After making sure they weren’t overheard when Aventus goes looking for her, Nina takes the two of them to her office and starts explaining to her son why he needs to keep that knowledge to himself and away from any strangers, and gives Aventus a good chastisement too. Oddly enough, they become even closer, if that is possible.

With the palace fuller than usual, the place is full of life the night of the Old Life Festival; getting crowded as the next morning K’arr, Karliah and Brynjolf arrive, followed closely by Erandur and Cicero merely an hour later.

Nina was worried about missing the holiday with her family at first, because of Elenwen’s party, but a missive from Ondolemar arrived at the twenty-eight and made her sigh in relief; a thief tried to break into the embassy and got caught, causing the First-Emissary to delay her party to the fifth instead of the evening of the first of Morning Star. Now she even has time to stay for her son’s birthday.

Brynjolf and Karliah leave the morning of the second, too much itching-inducing riches lying around and begging to be stolen or something the like, K’arr explained. Cicero got twitchy on the third, and along with Erandur, they left that night with Aventus and Blaise. Oh yes, the tricky brat got into his head that he will become an assassin like his friend, so he asked to be trained along with Aventus in the ways of the Dark Brotherhood as his birthday gift; Nina wanted to throttle him until cuddling with Cicero and Ri’irr calmed her down.

The afternoon of the fourth, Nina excused herself from the guests and left with her three Khajiit sons, getting surprised as the twins mounted two horses and followed.

“You didn’t really think you’ll go away alone, did you?” They asked simultaneously.

“What am I? A summons?” K’arr asks being copied by two other meows and receives a pat on the shoulder from the twins for his troubles.

###### 5 Morning Star, 4E 202, Thalmor Embassy

Fandanyis sits talking with Jarl Ravencrone and Girriath drinks brandy with Razelan while Nina talks with Ondolemar.

“You never ceases to surprise me,” Ondolemar talks from her side as Nina observes the people in the room, “How did you get the Third-Counselor here of all places?”

Athyarel sits near the bard listening to the music and sharing a conversation with Rulindil.

“Actually, I wasn’t aware he was visiting. I arrived at Solitude, and was preparing for the party in the inn’s room, when he strutted inside. I almost throw lightening at him,” Nina explains and Ondolemar chuckles, “But it’s good that he appeared, or the twins would be getting bored back at the city otherwise.”

“You almost attacked a Counsellor…” he says in disbelief, “Anyway, what is he doing here if you didn’t call him?”

“Believe it or not, he is on holiday,” Nina shrugs at his incredulous raised eyebrows, “He said that Herself gave him time off as he was getting sick with so much stress, I’m not the only one that likes his charming company apparently...” Ondolemar gets startled by what she implies.

“Nina,” Athyarel appears next to her, putting an arm around her waist while the other holds a goblet of wine, “I would like to introduce you to my little brother, Rulindil,” and the Third-Emissary makes an appearance, kissing her hand.

“My lady, I’ve heard lots of things about you, I don’t think my brother talked about anything else since arriving,” he comments giving her a charming smile.

“Oh? What has he told you? Only good things I hope…”

“Good things about you?” Ondolemar laughs, “I hardly think you know how to be anything but devious, aunty.”

“Commander Ondolemar,” Rulindil greets, “How did you meet the Falmer Queen? If I may ask…”

“Aunty?” Athyarel whispers into Nina’s ear and she only smiles without intentions of answering.

“Mother and Nina are good friends, I grew up with aunty always around the house,” Ondolemar tells them.

“Ah, you’re the son of Andranirya? I’ve heard many good things about you,” Athyarel causes Ondolemar to slightly pink and then whispers in her ear as he gets distracted by Rulindil, “I was hopeful that you would like to spend the night accompanying us…”

“You and Rulindil?” Nina whispers back and he nods, “You propose the most wonderful ideas,” she smiles saucily at him and kisses his neck, “I can’t wait…”

Watching this scene, Ondolemar leaves with some kind of excuse that she doesn’t hear and Athyarel leads her to the door that leads them into the private rooms of the embassy. The twins noticed her leaving, but she calms their worries with a wave of her hand and a dopey smile.

###### 6 Morning Star, 4E 202, Third-Counselor's Private Chambers

Loud knocking on the door of the room wakes the three sleeping bodies on the wide bed.

“Yes, get in!” Athyarel growls sitting on the bed. He glares at the soldier and Elenwen as they come rushing into the room.

“Milord, we were attacked during the night, this is most offensive!” The shrill voice of Elenwen rings through the room and Athyarel winces, “Dossiers with Thalmor secret information have been stolen and a prisoner taken away! We must find the culprit at once!” And she adds scathingly, “The guests were questioned and they mentioned the Falmer woman getting into the private quarters, so she must be the one. But without your permission, as the higher ranking officer in the premises, we can’t take actions at hand. We await your orders, Third-Counsellor.”

Athyarel huffs and rubs his eyes, “How can you be so sure that the Falmer Queen acted against us, First-Emissary?” He asks tiredly.

“All the guest were witnesses of her entering the private quarters in the arms of two of our own. Please, Milord, give the order and I will find the traitors and the female so they can be properly punished for their offences against the Thalmor! Even her own Falmer friends confirmed the other witnesses words...”

“Can I have at least a word in my defence?” Nina asks sitting on the bed, giving a show to the soldiers and Elenwen as they are in range to see her naked body as the sheets fall from her. As they say nothing because of the shock, she continues, “I’ve spent the entire night in this room after getting away from the party and you can confirm it with these two here,” she points at Athyrael and an awakening Rulindil with a pleased smile, standing and walking to the bathroom to get a shower. “Don’t take too long,” she tells at Athyrael from the door of the bathroom, “I want you two in the tub to rub my back,” and as she disappears into the room, they can hear water starting to run.

“As you can see, First-Emissary, Queen Ninada spent her time otherwise engaged last night,” Athyrael mentions and Elenwen chokes on air as she notices the third party is none other than Rulindil, “And as I’ve been here and experienced the lack of security you uphold in this Embassy these past weeks, it wouldn’t surprise me that another low-life got in, rescuing his comrade, and stealing from under your nose,” he finishes, going into the bathroom equally as naked as Nina moments ago.

Rulindil stretches and gets up, “I’ll get a shower and go help with the proceedings in a moment or two,” he mumbles and gets into the bathroom too.

Elenwen gets out of her shock, only when they start to hear giggles and moans coming from the room where the three elves disappeared into.

Inside the bathroom, Nina has her hands bound and held by Athyrael to her back, Rulindil is kneeling between her legs as his brother moves slowly behind her.

“What did you do, Nina?” Athyarel grunts on her neck between kisses.

She moaned in bliss, not getting enough of a respite to answer, “You need to be punished, my lady,” Rulindil comments from her legs, doing something with his tongue that makes her squeal and trembles with tremors of pleasure. “Using your presence as a distraction?” he guesses and continues to torture her.

“I bet she was doing just that,” Athyarel grunts as he moves and gives her a slap that makes her release a high pitched squeal, “But you wouldn’t do anything harming to the Thalmor cause, would you, my dear?”

“Of course not,” Nina moans and speaks quickly as they stop their ministrations, “I needed certain information, but I’ll make it up to you, I know about a Blade living here in Skyrim that will make for a nice guest for Rulindil once she's outlived her usefulness. I just need her to get rid of the damn dragons, when I’m done, she’ll be all yours.”

The brothers smile and return to their previous actions. Nina is more than happy to let them.

###### 6 Morning Star, 4E 202, Solitude, Skyrim

Elisif, Vittoria and Ninada sit chatting amicably in the Blue Palace after a girls-day. The beginning of the year is always lazy and Elisif has more free time than usual.

“...and then, when they were escorting me out of the embassy, Elenwen look murderous,” they laugh as Nina finishes telling them about the party and her night with the brothers, with some omissed information of course, as they don’t need to know about the deal she struck with them for the stolen dossiers.

“Oh!” Elisif looks up startled, “Is that who I think he is?” She asks with a whisper, looking at the door of the room.

“I’m sorry to interrupt you ladies,” Athyarel voice reaches them, and Nina turns to find him standing behind her, “But I need to steal Ninada for the evening.”

Elisif and Vittoria wave and giggle as they leave. They have dinner and share a bed that night, he leaves back to Alinor in the morning so Nina uses the opportunity to make it up to him for the loss of his ship as she promised.

She loves spending time with the altmer, he’s lovely and knows just how to push her buttons.

* * *

Nina enters the Winking Skeever and walks into the room the twins are staying at, finding R’sien and Ri’irr napping on the bed as the brothers read near the window.

“Morning guys,” she says and the twins acknowledge her with nods of their heads.

“Morning Nina, K’arr left a few things for you in the chest over there before leaving,” Girriath points to the wooden coffer at the feet of the bed.

“Thank you,” she mumbles and starts investigating what K’arr left for her.

There are more dossiers and information than she was expecting. The first dossier she opens is about Ulfric Stormcloak, and surprise surprise! He’s a dormant asset.

The second dossier has information about Delphine, Nina snorts as she wasn’t as dangerous as the Thalmor makes it sound. The last and third one is about Esbern, a Blade loremaster and possibly a helpful source of information about the dragons if she can find him; and her luck strikes again, he’s hiding at Riften apparently.

“Sons, have your older brother mentioned someone called Esbern recently?” She asks and R’sien answers positively, “We need to go then.”

As they enter the Sleeping Giant, the twins and her sons sit around the fire for a meal. Nina and Delphine go down to the basement and Nina throws the dossiers on the table.

“The topmost dossier is the most interesting of the lot,” Nina tells her as Delphine starts to browse the information.

“Ulfric!” Delphine gasps, “No, this can’t be… he, a spy? Even if uncooperative…” she takes another one and throws it aside as it is her own, grabbing the last one and gasping once more, “Esbern? He's alive? I thought the Thalmor must have got him years ago. That crazy old man... Figures the Thalmor would be on his trail, though, if they were trying to find out what's going on with the dragons.”

“I asked my kids, apparently the older mentioned Esbern recently,” Nina informs her.

“We've got to find Esbern before the Thalmor does. He'll know how to stop the dragons if anybody does.”

“You stay here, with the Thalmor’s hackles raised after thieves broke into their embassy twice in so many days, they’re going to be everywhere. And most probably they are at Riften already, if not for Esbern, for the thieves guild.”

“What do you mean thieves? What happened?” Delphine asks with surprise.

“The invitation I received for the party from my friend arrived later than I was expecting because Elenwen delayed the party after they caught a thief in the premises. It was supposed to be the first but she changed the date at the last minute to the fifth.”

“Oh, so that’s why you took so long to come back…”

“You thought ill of me, you wound me, Delphine,” Nina fakes dismay and the woman in front of her rolls her eyes.

“Go away already, Esbern is waiting. Oh, and when you find him... if you think I'm paranoid... you may have some trouble getting him to trust you. Just ask him where he was on the 30th of Frostfall. He'll know what it means.”

* * *

They arrive at the Ragged Flagon and as the males walked in front of her, they didn’t notice the Nord startled reaction as he gets a good look of Nina. She stops dead in her tracks as they exchange a look, the man doesn’t know what to do until the flight or fight siren on his head becomes too much and stands with the intention to run away. This is the same man that needed to talk so desperately with Rulindil the night of Elenwen’s party.

He tries to walk past her but Nina cuts his path, “Move away lass,” the Nord tries to sound dangerous and fails miserably.

“If I let you go, you’ll inform the Thalmor about not only my presence but Esbern’s too, won’t you?” She asks and the man pales considerably.

“I don’t want any problems…” he tries.

“Too late for that,” she says and with a quick as lightning movement slits his throat, sidestepping as he falls to the floor grabbing his neck and the blood quickly gushes out of him.

As she sits on the stool in front of Vekel and asks for brandy, she moves one hand and a spell shots to the corpse transforming it into a sweetroll, not even the blood that was making a pool on the stone floor remains. She got that spell as a birthday gift from Cael many years ago and has been grateful for it since then.

“Was that really necessary, mother?” K’arr asks sitting beside her on the stool. The Flagon is silent as he does this.

“I’m getting tired of the damn dragons attacking me everywhere I go and Esbern is my chance to find a way to kill the bastard that is resuscitating their corpses, so I would say that yes, it was necessary. Otherwise, you would have to fend off the army of Thalmor he would have set upon this place. I’m tired after travelling so much and on those days of the month, don’t push me right now, son,” and she glares at Vekel, “Can I have my drink now?”

Vekel nods nervously and serves her a cup with shaking fingers, “On the house, for the delay,” he whispers and relaxes as she smirks.

Fandanyis and Girriath observed this from their table at the wooden platform. They raised their glasses for a toast with a laugh, startling the rest of the people in the Flagon.

“And here I was starting to think that she got soft in her old age,” Fandanyis shakes his head.

“That’s my favourite sister,” Girriath snorts and raises his glass in a toast as Nina turns to look at them.

“Old my round and bouncy backside, you jerks. Besides, I’m your only sister,” and she finishes her brandy with a grimace, grabbing her lower stomach, “Fuck it all! K’arr please tell me there is an alchemy lab around here…”

He raises a finger to the hall at his right with concern, “In the cistern mother,” she shoots out of her seat in the direction he sends her.

Delvin shivers once she’s out of sight, “Damn that woman is scary,” he mumbles and Dirge laughs at him.

After a couple of hours, other members of the guild start arriving at the Flagon from the Cistern, some with bruises and others limping.

Brynjolf arrives the last, rubbing his sore jaw, and sits next to K’arr.

“What happened?” the Khajiit asks hiding a smirk.

“Well, you know Ravyn Imyan is new and wasn’t around when everything with Mercer happened, so he didn’t know about your mother. He saw her and believed she was lost, but with his attitude and her state right now they got into a fight. As an ex Morag Tong he can keep up with her, but when we tried to stop them as they were breaking lots of things with their fight, Nina kicked all our arses out of there.”

“That woman is crazy,” Ravyn cries as he seats with Delvin after arriving in the room, limping and with a black eye, “Who the hell is she?”

“Hey, be careful how you talk of the boss’s mother,” Delvin says slapping Ravyn on the back of his head and the guy whines in pain.

“Mother isn’t crazy, she’s in pain because of her days of the month,” K’arr adds and many males around the room gasp in horror.

“And I would recommend being careful with her, no matter the day,” Vex comments with a drawl, “Ex Morag Tong or not, that’s the Listener of the Dark Brotherhood,” she finishes with a wide and devious smile, enjoying the way the usually hard and cold guy pales and shakes in place.

“Fuck, with cramps and she kicked my ass worse than my master when I started training? She’s a demon!” He whispers fearful and causes the room to shake with laughter.

###### 10 Morning Star, 4E 202, The Ratway Warrens

“I can’t believe I have to spend my day looking for an old man on this stinking place when I could be back at home celebrating my cousin’s birthday,” Nina complains and R’sien meows back at her, “Of course I bought him a present to make up for my lack of presence, what kind of friend would I be otherwise,” and he meows once more, “Yeah I think that’s the door, let's take a look.”

They reach a sturdy-looking door, enforced with metal and completely out of place that deep into the Warrens. She knocks on it and the little flap at eye level opens.

“Go away!” An old man shouts.

“Esbern? Open the door, I'm a friend.”

“What?! No, that's not me. I'm not Esbern. I don't know what you're talking about.”

“It's okay. Delphine sent me,” Nina rolls her eyes already annoyed with the man, she doesn’t really have much patience when she has bad cramps like right now.

“Delphine? How do you... so you've finally found her, and she led you to me. And here I am, caught like a rat in a trap.”

“Delphine said to ‘remember the 30th of Frostfall’”

“Ah. Indeed, indeed. I do remember. Delphine really is alive, then? You'd better come in then and tell me how you found me and what you want,” Esbern starts opening many locks from the other side it seems, as he makes a lot of noise and grunts as the door shakes.

“So Delphine keeps up the fight, after all these years. I thought she'd have realised it's hopeless by now. I tried to tell her, years ago…”

“The Thalmor have found you. We have to get out of here.”

“Yes, yes, so you said. But so what? The end is upon us. I may as well die here as anywhere else. I'm tired of running.”

“What do you mean, ‘the end is upon us’?”

“Haven't you figured it out yet? What more needs to happen before you all wake-up and see what's going on? Alduin has returned, just like the prophecy said! The Dragon from the dawn of time, who devours the souls of the dead! No one can escape his hunger, here or in the afterlife! Alduin will devour all things and the world will end. Nothing can stop him. I tried to tell them. They wouldn't listen. Fools. It's all come true... all I could do was watch our doom approach…”

“Alduin... the dragon who's raising the others?”

“Yes, yes! You see, you know but you refuse to understand! Oh, yes. It's all been foretold. The end has begun. Alduin has returned. Only a Dragonborn can stop him. But no Dragonborn has been known for centuries. It seems the gods have grown tired of us. They've left us to our fate, as the plaything of Alduin the World-Eater.”

“Good thing I'm Dragonborn then, isn’t it?”

“What? You're... can it really be true? Dragonborn? Then... then there is hope! The gods have not abandoned us! We must... we must... We must go, quickly now. Take me to Delphine. We have much to discuss.”

Esbern packs his possessions quickly and they walk away. Back to the Ragged Flagon where they pick Nina’s family. The twins go their own way, taking along the present to Vyrthur for his birthday, and wanting to rest for a while from the trips to and from all over Skyrim; they don’t like it as much as Nireth and grow tired of the constant movement.

“What happened on the 30th of Frostfall?” Nina asks on the way to Riverwood.

“It was a cold day. The end of Frostfall is nearly winter in the Jerall Mountains. We heard the news at Cloud Ruler by courier, riding hard from the Imperial City. 30th of Frostfall, 171. Thirty years ago. The Great War started that day. The Thalmor ambassador his ultimatum to the Emperor Titus Mede: the heads of every Blades agent within the Aldmeri Dominion. I knew, that day, that it was truly the beginning of the end.”

* * *

They have to stop many times on the way to their destination, Thalmor justiciars are all around the roads of Skyrim, is worse than just a week ago. They arrive after two days at Delphine’s place when the trip usually only takes one.

She’s cranky and in pain when they arrive, so she ignores the woman as she greets Esbern and goes directly to the alchemy lab to prepare a potion to dull her pain. Grabbing some food from Orgnar and getting locked in a room to sleep and rest, hugging Ri’irr and enjoying the purring from R’sien.

The next day they gather together at Delphine's secret room and Esbern starts explaining to her what he had already told the Blade woman the past evening.

“This is where they built Alduin's Wall,” Esbern points to a map on the book in front of him, “to set down in stone all their accumulated dragon lore. A hedge against the forgetfulness of centuries. A wise and foresighted policy, in the event. Despite the far-reaching fame of Alduin's Wall at the time—one of the wonders of the ancient world—its location was lost, but I've found it again. Not lost, you see, just forgotten. The Blades archives held so many secrets... I was only able to save a few scraps…”

“We are going to look for it? I’ve always wondered what all the fuss was about…” Nina asks, now more interested in the talk.

“You heard about this?” Delphine asks surprised.

“Of course,” Nina says, “It was the gossip all around after it was built. But it wasn’t until I ran away from home two decades later, that I met a Blade when I was passing Cyrodiil and asked him what exactly that thing was. Until then, I believed it was a wall in honour to that oversized lizard and I didn’t understand why they would bother,”

Esbern chokes as she says ‘oversized lizard’ and laughs uproariously, “Alduin's Wall was where the ancient Blades recorded all they knew of Alduin and his return. Part history, part prophecy,” he explains with fervour.

“Indeed, but I only knew about the history part. It never occurred to me it was anything more. I’m kinda excited about getting to see it after all these years.”

But her excitement is short-lived. They walk the road that frames Lake Ilinalta, after Half-Moon Mill and reaching the mountains leading to the borders between Witherun and Falkreath; and a dragon attacks them. Another one surprises them at the bridge near Old Hroldan. And a third one is burning Karthspire to the ground as they arrive in the middle of the night.

They killed the first two and left the third one to his fate, taking advantage of the dark and the dragon attracting all the attention of the Forsworn to sneak into the cave leading to Sky Haven Temple.

The Akaviri puzzle locks are more complex than the ones found in ancient Nordic crypts, but only slightly. She's surprised as they arrive at the door, the place is very well preserved for a construction that is 150 years younger than her.

She cuts her hand and lets her blood fall on the seal as Esbern instructs and gets the ‘honour’ of walking first into the temple. Using a candlelight that hovers over her head, Nina walks into the unknown dark place.

At the end of a large hall is a big room with a stone table and many chairs, behind it, it’s the incredibly detailed wall they’ve been looking for.

Alduin’s Wall.

Nina sits on top of the stone table, admiring the detailed work of the wall as Esbern and Delphine talk about it.

“Shor's bones! Here it is! Alduin's Wall... so well preserved... I've never seen a finer example of early second era Akaviri sculptural relief…”

“Esbern. We need information, not a lecture on art history,” actually, Nina was enjoying his lecture until Delphine interrupted, annoying brat...

“Yes, yes. Let's see what we have... Look, here is Alduin! This panel goes back to the beginning of time when Alduin and the Dragon Cult ruled over Skyrim. Here the humans rebel against their dragon overlords—the legendary Dragon War. Alduin's defeat is the centrepiece of the Wall. You see, here he is falling from the Sky. The Nord Tongues—masters of the Voice—are arrayed against him.”

“So, does it show how they defeated him? Isn't that why we're here?”

“Patience, my dear. The Akaviri were not a straightforward people. Everything is couched in allegory and mythic symbolism. Yes, yes. This here, coming from the mouths of the Nord heroes, this is the Akaviri symbol for ‘Shout’.”

“You mean they used a shout to defeat Alduin? You're sure?”

“Hmm? Oh, yes. Presumably something rather specific to dragons, or even Alduin himself. Remember, this is where they recorded all they knew of Alduin and his return.”

“So we're looking for a Shout, then. Damn it.”

“Look, here. In the third panel. The prophecy which brought the Akaviri to Tamriel in the first place, in search of the Dragonborn. Here are the Akaviri—the Blades—you see their distinctive longswords. Now they kneel, their ancient mission fulfilled, as the Last Dragonborn contends with Alduin at the end of time. Are you paying attention, Delphine? You might learn something about our own history. I know the prophecy by heart. Once all Blades knew it.”

“Well, I'm going to look around some more. See what the Blades left for us.”

“Yes... yes, that's an excellent idea. Who knows what lost treasures we might discover?”

Ninada walks along with Delphine as they finish with the wall and Esbern goes elsewhere, “Have you ever heard of such a thing? A shout that can knock a dragon out of the sky?” The woman asks as they enter a room with weapons and armour lying around.

“Nope,” Nina drawls, inspecting a long blade that is enchanted with something different that she can’t identify and has never seen before, “but the Tongues may know something.”

Delphine scoffs holding some pauldrons on her hands, “You’re probably right. I hoped, in vain apparently, to avoid involving them in all this,” she sighs.

“I’ll ask Arngeir about it. Do you know what kind of enchantment is this?” She asks passing the sword to her.

“This is an old Akaviri katana, enchanted to increase the damage made to dragons,” she explains, “It’s been so long since last I saw one…”

“You don’t mind if I take it? Those damn lizards are getting more and more bothersome as time goes on.”

“Suit yourself, it’ll probably be more helpful in your hands anyway.”

Delphine walks away and Nina goes to find a bed where to sleep, it’s been a long day.


	6. After work is party-time!

###### 15 Morning Star, 4E 202, Throat of the World

Nina arrived at High Hrothgar late and had dinner with the Tongues, telling them about the new word walls she found around Skyrim and her family’s adventures. Arngeir is the only one who can answer her, but she still understands as some of them exclaim something in dovahzul from time to time. Learning the new language is a work in progress, still.

That morning, when she asked Arngeir about the shout to drop a dragon from the sky she wasn’t expecting him to get so upset about it, so she said she’ll talk with Paarthurnax and walked away.

And here she’s now, lying against the wall that Paarthurnax likes to rest on, waiting for him to arrive from wherever he flew away to.

When he arrives half an hour later, Nina is finishing another book that she borrowed from the Tongues. She doesn’t make him wait too long and fifteen minutes later they are talking about everything that goes on with her life and meditating about words for hours.

“I asked Master Arngeir about the shout to struck dragons from the sky, he mentioned that it’s called Dragonrend but not much more, he looked so upset that I preferred to come and ask you. Do you know it?”

“Krosis. Sorrowfully, no. It cannot be known to me. Your kind—joorre—mortals—created it as a weapon against the dov… the dragons. Our hadrimme, our minds cannot even… comprehend its concepts.”

“Ugh,” she grunts throwing her body against the wall and looking up at the sky as clouds fly by, “How am I supposed to defeat Alduin then? If you don’t know it, there’s no other I can think of that would have such knowledge…”

“Yes. Alduin... Zeymah. The elder brother. Gifted, grasping and troublesome, as is so often the case with firstborns. But why? Why must you stop Alduin?”

“The prophecy says that only the Dragonborn can stop him,” she sighs, she’s grown to hate the damn prophecy.

“True... but qostiid—prophecy—tells what may be, not what should be. Qostiid sahlo aak. Just because you can do a thing, does not always mean you should. Do you have no better reason for acting than destiny? Are you nothing more than a plaything of dez... of fate?”

“Well, for what I heard once when I found Alduin raising a dead dragon, they answer to him as their leader, right? He’s their thur,” Paarthurnax hums in agreement, “Then if I end his reign over the other dragons they may stop trying to attack me all the damn time,” Ninada whines, “I like talking to you. I’d like to meet and talk with other dragons too. I saw one that was coloured blue and white, not so long ago, so beautiful…” she sighs again dejectedly, “If he didn’t attack me, I wouldn’t have had the need to kill him.”

“Brii? You find the dov brit—beautiful?” Paarthurnax laughs, “You are truly a strange joor, Dovahkiin.”

“I tell you the truth,” Nina shrugs.

“It’s still vonmindoraan for me and it’s also voonik to try and tinvaak with other dovah. They find joor...vobahlaan. You will have to prove yourself bahlaan—worthy—by winning a fight, first. You will be very brave to try. But you have indulged my weakness for speech long enough. Krosis. Now I will answer your question. Do you know why I live here, at the peak of the Monahven—what you name Throat of the World?”

“No. Dragons like mountains, right?”

“True. But few now remember that this was the very spot where Alduin was defeated by the ancient Tongues. Vahrukt unslaad... perhaps none but me now remember how he was defeated. The Nords of those days used the Dragonrend Shout to cripple Alduin. But this was not enough. Ok mulaag unslaad. It was the Kel—the Elder Scroll. They used it to... cast him adrift on the currents of Time.”

“An Elder Scroll?” Nina asks bewildered, “Were they mad? Those things are dangerous! Please don’t tell me what I think you’re going to say…”

“Tiid krent. Time was... shattered here because of what the ancient Nords did to Alduin. If you brought that Kel, that Elder Scroll back here... to the Tiid-Ahraan, the Time-Wound... With the Elder Scroll that was used to break Time, you may be able to... cast yourself back. To the other end of the break. You could learn Dragonrend from those who created it.”

“I have to read a damn Scroll, to learn a shout, to defeat Alduin, to stop the dragons attacking me…” she rubs her face with her hands fighting down the panicked laugh that wants to bubble out of her, “How has my life become this madness?” After a long silence, she asks, “How am I supposed to read one without losing my sight and sanity anyway?” and surprisingly, Paarthurnax has an answer.

“We are all children of Akatosh, as Dovahkiin, you will be protected from the effects of the scroll because your sil is that of a dov. In essence, you’re more like the dov than a joor.”

‘Father sends his regards, sister.’ The ghost of the memory from Auriel’s Chantry haunts her and this time she can’t contain her laughter which comes out tired and resigned.

“I guess… I can’t deny it any longer after that,” she thinks out loud and ignores the look from Paarthurnax.

She’s never cared for the Aedra and goes partying with Daedra all the time. How does this work then?

###### 17 Morning Star, 4E 202, Dawnstar Sanctuary

R’sien and Ri’irr shot to the fire, to get warm, as Nina walks at a more sedate pace into the Sanctuary. She kneels in front of the Night Mother’s sarcophagus, putting under her knees a cushion that is always nearby just for that; just like the paper, ink and quill; and proceeds to take note of all the things Mother has to say.

She finishes an hour later, standing wobbly on her numb legs. Blaise and Aventus are the first to greet her downstairs as they launch at her with hugs.

“Kids, let me go, I can’t give you the presents if I can’t move,” all the adults laugh as the kids release her quickly and stand expectantly in front of her, she takes two packages from her mage’s pouch and gives one to each of them.

She sits at the table and Erandur puts a bowl with soup in front of her, he gets a thanks and she eats as the children noisily comment about their gifts. The box she gave them had clothes and new elven daggers.

“Not that I mind,” Nina drawls looking to her side where K’arr and Delvin sit, “But, what are you two doing here?”

“I’ve got the budget for the job you want to be done in the island,” Delvin answers, passing her a long list with details of where the money is going to, payment for the workers mostly and furniture for the crypt. In total is a sum of fifty thousand septims.

“I need to check something,” Nina comments pointing out the ‘Mage & Spells’ part, “If I can find what I need, I will be doing that myself,” she tells at Delvin, “The Brotherhood have special spells that were created by our own many years ago for this specific reason.”

He nods and gets startled as Nina puts a big fat bag of gold in front of him, explaining to him that it’s half of the payment required so he can get the construction started. She’ll pay the rest in a couple of weeks, they have to finish some ‘contracts’ first.

“How was your first contract, brother?” she asks of Erandur.

“Completed it with no problems,” he smiles, “Cicero’s poison receipts were quite useful.”

“Good,” she says and looks around curiously, “Talking about Cicero…”

“The Keeper went to look for some things needed for Mother’s weekly oiling.”

“Oh, that’s why it’s so silent,” she laughs and stands, “I’m dead on my feet, good night everyone.”

Delvin and K’arr wish her a good night from where they are playing some type of card game and Erandur walks along with her to get the kids into bed too. She takes a bath and puts on a long-sleeved black nightgown that falls to her knees as it is cold and gets into bed, falling asleep in no time.

She wakes up to a shrill scream running along the walls of the Sanctuary, another follows soon after but farther away, silence… and kids laughing. She sighs, turning around and snuggling on the warm body next to her, the sweet smell of nightshade, deathbells and sweetrolls assaulting her.

“Morning Cicero,” she whispers against his neck and his arms hugs her closer.

“Sleepy…” he rasps out.

“Did you stay up late oiling Mother?” Nina asks with her hand wandering down his stomach.

“Yes,” he growls and bucks into her hold.

“Good Keeper,” she mumbles and crawls on top of his body, “Mother surely is happy. But what about you?” She asks undulating her hips and Cicero hisses under her.

“Tease…” he growls as that is all she does for a couple of minutes and throws her roughly on the bed, pinning her body under his, moving aside their clothes and shoving himself to the hilt inside her warm body in one swift movement, “I missed this…” he whispers kissing her neck and starting to move.

She leaves Cicero to sleep some more after their activities, walking into the training room to find the source of the laughs.

Aventus and Blaise are practising on dummies under the watchful eye of K’arr. Astrid and Babette are to the side with Erandur.

“Good morning sisters,” she says walking to the latter group, “I heard screams earlier, what happened?” 

Babette scoffs and points to the training kids, “Those brats threw a bowl-full of dead insects on me!”

“Aren’t you an alchemist?” Nina asks smiling at her antics.

“Yes, but I usually deal with them on a mortar, not under my clothes,” she pouts and Nina laughs.

She walks into the main room, grabs cheese and bread and sits on the long table to eat, “Good morning,” she greets the others sitting there and both of them grumble something back.

Delvin is dealing with lots of papers on the other side of the table and Veezara eats what looks like last night's soup-leftovers.

“The other guys should be arriving tomorrow morning to start the construction,” Delvin comments standing and preparing tea.

“Good,” Nina nods at him.

“Good morning!” Cicero bursts into the room and hugs all of them before walking to the table with food and grabbing breakfast.

Nina cleans her place and grabs the papers where she took note of Mother’s instructions last night, preparing the information of the contracts in neat sheets so they’re ready for any one of them to take the jobs at any time.

Erandur arrives later and starts cooking with K’arr’s assistance, Aventus and Blaise sit near her to play cards and Cicero talks with Veezara about fighting techniques, getting weird looks for his strange methods.

“Have you read the books I packed on your bags last time?” Nina asks the kids.

“I finished them!” Blaise answers, “But I can’t get Fear to work correctly, Erandur tried to help but I don’t understand what he means…”

“I can’t cast Telekinesis,” Aventus pouts, “Things start to move like crazy when I try to move them…”

“Don’t worry, I’ll help you out Blaise, and that spell is too advanced for you Aventus,” Nina complains, “I didn’t put that book on your bag…”

“I found it in the library the other day…” Aventus whispers hanging his head.

“Aha! I win!” Blaise cheers throwing the cards on the table and stands, “Your sweetroll is mine!”

“No!” Aventus shouts and starts running after Blaise.

###### 19 Morning Star, 4E 202, Dawnstar Sanctuary

The crew for the construction of Mother’s new crypt arrived early and started setting camp at the island after Delvin gave them their instructions.

The night before, Nina and Delvin talked about the size and configuration of the crypt; the top-most room will be a simple thing; a door, four walls, ceiling, chairs, and a shrine to Sithis still to be constructed. Arquin and Nina designed one together two hundred years ago, but apparently, it wasn’t made so she will give the plans for it to Erandur as he has blacksmith training.

In the middle of the room, a secret circular stone door will lead down to the proper crypt. A long hall with space for brothers and sisters to be buried will end at the room where the Night Mother’s body will rest.

Later that morning Astrid and Veezara leave, back to their Sanctuary to assign contracts, leaving Babette as she will travel with Erandur later when he leaves for his second contract. K’arr too needs to attend to some jobs in other locations and R’sien goes with him.

Also, they have been hearing whispers about a serial killer at Windhelm, so Nina will travel there to try and recruit them.

The days go on, with the kids training the basics and Nina or Cicero instructing Erandur on some skills needed for their job. Babette too, with her many years of experience, is a good teacher for Aventus and Blaise; they may complain sometimes as she looks like a little girl, but they follow the tenets and Babette is obviously their superior after three decades with the Brotherhood, so they behave; no one wants to be confronted by an angry Cicero and breaking the tenets is a quick way to make that happen.

* * *

One late night, Cicero and Nina are playing roughly around the library when Erandur finds them. Cicero has her pinned to the shelves when Erandur walks around the corner and gasps.

“I’m sorry, I just want my book…” he mumbles covering his eyes and patting the table next to them.

“Won’t you prefer to join us, brother?” Cicero asks and the Dunmer splutters in surprise, his hand falling from his face.

Cicero moves then, shoving Nina over the table, and continues with his previous activities. Erandur looks down at her, as she grabs his robes to get him closer.

“But… but I thought… Cicero and the Listener…”

Nina hums, looking up at him, “You thought we had a monogamous relationship going on?” She asks while moving aside his clothes and Erandur nods, “The Brotherhood members usually have open relationships within their own, Astrid and Arnbjorn exclusivity is something that happens only rarely,” she explains and proceeds to use her mouth for something else than talking.

“When other brothers and sister visit, you will get more invitations to this kind of activities at random, I’m sure…” Cicero tells him, grunting when Nina jerks her hips.

“We are but flesh and have needs after all,” Nina mumbles as she is moved between their bodies, “Starting something with strangers can be dangerous for us,” and she kisses Erandur as Cicero stands behind her.

“Keeping it between the family members is always safer,” Cicero comments between kisses on Nina’s shoulders.

Nina stops the kissing from both males, “That sounds so incestuous,” she grimaces, “We’re keeping it within the members of the Brotherhood,” she corrects his words and they continue, late into the night, over the table at the kitchen, on the training room, and into her own bedroom.

It’s a miracle the kids didn’t wake up, they will think the next morning. Until Babette appears on the evening and complains about having to spell the children asleep in the middle of the night as they were being so loud.

* * *

The 23rd, Erandur and Babette leave, she goes back to Falkreath and he has to take care of a contract in the Reach.

Nina leaves for Windhelm the day after, with many instructions to Cicero to look after the kids or face the wrath of an overprotective-dragon-mother-mode Nina.

K’arr convinced her that it is a thing and she’s scary as an angry dragon when she thinks they’re hurt. The comparison surged when Ri’irr and R’sien told him about the dragon outside of Karthspire, that bruised Ri’irr a little, and the resulting Dov against Dovahkiin vicious battle.

After arriving at Windhelm, she goes to the inn and gets food, listening to the gossip of the people around her. The serial killer murdered four women so long, all of them young and good looking. She walks around the cemetery, as that is where the bodies were found, but they seem to have been left there as there are no splatters of blood except over the tombstone where they were left.

She rents a room and the next day asks some questions to the guards, who don’t really appear to be all that concerned, and quickly put up the excuse of the war thinning their ranks and not enough people to work on the problem.

A trail of blood leads her to Hjerim, an abandoned house if its empty appearance is to go by. There is a chest covered in blood and full of advertisements about ‘The butcherer’ and a necromantic amulet at the back. She pokes and prods around until she finally finds something more just as she was about to give up, a secret door inside a wardrobe leading to a room covered in gore.

Erandur arrives on the evening as she’s walking out of the inn, surprising her, and explains about his extra target. Nilsine Shatter-Shield.

Both don their cowls over their armour and proceed to do their tasks, he walks away in the direction of the woman’s house and she hides in the shadows and walks around the cemetery and marketplace in search of anything suspicious that could lead her to the mysterious killer.

As she is making the third round of the marketplace, a young woman walks from the cemetery and a shadow follows her. Nina watches as the woman walks around the forge, intent on walking to the hall back to the centre of the city, but gets a dagger to her back.

This is her killer!

She walks out of her hiding place, confronting the killer, Erandur approaching from behind the man. As he startles at their presence, he turns and the fire of the forge lights up his features.

“Calixto?” Nina asks and the man crouches in a fighting stance, “Wait! We don’t want to fight you,” she speaks, lowering her cowl and the man relaxes.

“Ninada, was it?” and turning to Erandur he asks, “And your brother?”

“Yes, Erandur,” she introduces, “Let's get out of here, we need to get rid of the body before someone comes.”

They leave Nilsine’s body over the same graveyard where the other women's bodies were found, after Calixto does whatever he's been doing to them.

Once inside of Calixto’s house, they sit with drinks and talk.

“So you’re the serial killer, Calixto?” Ninada mutters, “You stole my brother’s target,” she adds and the man laughs nervously.

“I-I’m sorry, if I knew I would have picked someone else,” he explains with a regretful look to Erandur who waves his hands calmly.

“No harm done, she’s dead as the client asked, that’s all that matters. Besides, it was good to see your abilities in action,” he tells Calixto, calming the man, and next focuses on Nina, “He’s good, isn’t he?”

Nina nods as the Imperial looks confusedly between them, “What?”

“Would you like to join us, Calixto?” Nina asks and he startles, raising a finger to his chest with wide eyes, “Yes, you,” Nina snorts, “Erandur was here on a mission, I wasn’t,” she explains and Calixto’s mouth drops.

“You’re here for me…” he whispers incredulously.

“So?”

“W-well… I-I need to… hmm, take care of a few things… but, yes… I’d like that.”

Nina smiles, “Aventus will be happy to see you again, brother.”

At dawn, they wake up and start helping with the packing. Calixto leaves to do his ‘things’ and comes back with a dampened mood. He puts away all the things he will need immediately, leaving the rest to be sorted out once he’s settled at his new residence and has more time.

They arrange the things on a carriage and after a swift lunch, leave for Dawnstar. The Butcherer will become a myth as time passes, the deaths called Divine punishment for the women’s ‘wickedness’.

###### 27 Evening Star, 4E 202, Dawnstar Sanctuary

Erandur grabs one of the bags and opens the door to the Sanctuary, Ri’irr bites the handle of another bag that hangs funnily from his mouth and walks behind the dunmer, Calixto enters with a wooden crate of delicate things in his arm and looks around in wonder, and Nina brings the rear with the rest of his things floating behind her with a handy apply of Telekinesis.

They leave the things over the table and Nina grabs Calixto’s hand, leading him back to the entrance. They stand in front of the Night Mother together.

“This is the Night Mother, we serve and protect her,” she says, “No matter if you’re an Aedra or Daedra worshipper, you always respect Mother,” she warns and he nods looking at the corp on the sarcophagus with reverence, “Those are the Tenets,” she points to the frame near the hall leading to the Black Door, “Follow them and we will have no problems, break them and…”

“And Cicero will punish you! Ha ha ha!” The jester appears suddenly, glaring at Calixto with a crazy smile until the man nods in apprehension.

“This is the Keeper of the Night Mother, Cicero. If I leave the Sanctuary for any reason, he is the next higher-ranking member of the family and you must listen to his commands,” Nina explains and Cicero smirks while hugging her, breaking completely his previous tough attitude, “Any member that joined the Brotherhood before you has a superior status. For now, that means all of them, but the kids. Cicero,” she calls the jester attention from the form of the Night Mother, “Can you show him around? I need to listen to Mother,” she tells him ignoring his answer as her attention is already focussed on the words rushing inside her head as she kneels on the pillows and grabs the notebook and quill lying nearby.

She finishes talking details with Mother after three hours, she is tired from the trip and now for sitting on the floor for too long. She walks downstairs and hugs K’arr, wishing him a happy birthday. Actually, she missed it, as it was the day before.

“You look ready to drop into bed mother, go to sleep, I’ll still be here in the morning,” he shoved her away and she hugged him again before leaving.

“Come on mum,” Blaise takes her by the hand, “I’ll read to you, like you do for me!” He skips all the way to her room and makes the extra effort of helping her out of her armour and tucking her on the bed. Reading the introduction of 16 Accords of Madness vol. IX, she falls asleep before Vaermina and Sheogorath start talking, snuggling her son and a smile on her face.

* * *

As she went to bed early, Nina wakes before dawn; K’arr, Blaise, R’sien and Ri’irr around her. She gets out of that pile of bodies only thanks to decades of practice of sneaking out of her children’s weight without waking them.

She has a light breakfast and starts baking crostatas, pies and sweetrolls so they can celebrate a late birthday party for K’arr. As the smell from the oven starts to spread, she needs to scare away many of the residents of the Sanctuary most of the morning. The only one allowed in there is Erandur, as he will cook lunch.

After eating the beef stew, Nina and Erandur start to put on the table the many sweets she baked getting a loud cheer of appreciation.

“I’m going to be so spoiled when I leave this place,” Delvin says mournfully and as he bites into a piece of snowberry crostata and releases a dirty groan of pleasure, “If I weren’t scared of your mum,” he tells to an amused K’arr to his side, “I’d steal her away.”

“The Listener is mine!” Cicero proclaims loudly, with a mouth full of freshly baked sweetrolls, as a dagger embeds into the wood of the table, between the fingers of Delvin’s hand resting there, “You’ll never steal Cicero’s sweet Listener, maker of the best sweetrolls Cicero has ever had!”

All around the table, they laugh as Delvin takes away his hand from the dangerous gleaming dagger. He’s the only one who doesn’t get the fun of it.

Calixto takes to the Brotherhood like a fish on water and Aventus loves to have his old friend around. But, Erandur and he aren’t the best of buddies as Nina was expecting. When she asked, Calixto’s skill set consisted of a mastery on Restoration and some other things along with Necromancy. Apparently, Erandur had a bad experience with a necromancer and dislikes them by default, making a friendship between them difficult to happen.

* * *

As K’arr and R’sien left once more to take care of business while, Delvin went somewhere else to collect some materials that the workers need, the second of Sun’s Dawn arrived to find only the six members of the Brotherhood present at the Sanctuary.

Nina sends them out of their home all morning, with orders to bring back crazy amounts of cheese of all types, doesn’t matter if they buy or steal them, just that they’re back in the afternoon with the cheese.

“Why would she ask for cheese of all things?” Calixto wonders as they sit inside the inn.

“Maybe she’s going to call uncle Cael,” Blaise informs him but that isn’t much of a help as Calixto doesn’t know who ‘Cael’ is exactly.

When they walk inside the Sanctuary once again, the smell of deliciously sweet goodies assaults their noses. The usually long table in the main room, that is big enough for all of them and many more guests, is crowded to the brim with baked desserts and goblets. The tables and drawers near the walls have balls of yarn or cabbage, and even the walls themselves are covered by pelts.

Nina rushes into the room, dressed in a golden gown with crystals that shine as she moves and the crown that she rarely uses when in the palace.

“Leave whatever you brought of what I asked and go take baths, the water is warm already on the tubs. I left clothes for you to wear, yes, even you Cicero, just this time don’t worry.”

They walk off and leave her to put the dozen or so of cheese wheels they brought from the city around the room.

“Should I be worried?” Calixto asks them once they got far enough.

“Just don’t insult whoever is in the room when we are back there, I heard bits and pieces from the Falkreath Sanctuary and believe me, you don’t want to anger Cael,” Erandur warns ominously before walking away to clean and dress.

The two kids are the first to arrive, jumping around like Cicero usually does. They have jesters outfits, but more colourful than the one the Keeper generally wears. Blaise’s is red and gold, while Aventus’ is black and purple.

Next, arrives Cicero himself, wearing a black outfit that makes him look serious and the tight fit shows his muscular built.

Erandur and Calixto are last. The first one has a purple robe that reminds him of the one he used as a priest of Vaermina, while their new member in the family wears black leather pants and a deep-red t-shirt.

The only thing in common in all of them? The bloody handprint at their backs purposefully put there by Nina for their security. While they examine each others clothing, with Cicero loving the little jesters, Nina walks around putting the last pieces of cheese around the tables.

“Okay, guys, pay attention,” Nina calls loudly, “I know that you’re curious but bear with me, you’ll understand soon enough. Tonight you need to be careful, mind your words and for the love of the Dread Father, don’t insult anyone.” She grabs a staff in the form of a rose on hand and summons the Valkynaz out of it, “Hey Johnny!”

“Mistress,” the dremora greets and looks around, “You really did it, thank you.”

“Of course, I promised to summon you the next time. It took me two months but well…” Nina shrugs, “Dragons.”

“I’ll wait aside then. I’d hate to be sent back to the Deadlands by one of the Lords stepping on me.” The five males on the room observe curiously as the daedra grabs a little plate with cheese cubes and rest his back to a wall, comfortable as he can be while chewing the little bits of cheese.

They miss the conversation Nina has to the petals of the rose staff, only moving their attention from the dremora when a blue portal opens near the Listener. They stare as a tall daedra comes out of it, this one dressed in some kind of silk robe in black and red.

“Sam!” Nina greets the new arrival with a hug and a kiss to his cheek.

“My dear! So long since we last met. I missed you on the last two parties,” the dremora pouts, “You didn’t choose another favourite Prince, did you? I’d be mighty upset...”

“Of course not, Sanguine!” Nina scowls and swats his arm. Calixto is definitely worried now, Sanguine? This is madness!

“Good, I’d hate to have to start a war with one of the others, they never have enough imagination. Let’s prepare the drinks, shall we?” As he raises his hands, the table fills with bottles of all types of drinks.

“Guys,” Nina calls them, “The red bottles are Sam’s special brew, don’t drink that, it’s barely manageable to the Princes so imagine how strong that stuff is,” she jokes with a smile, apparently not noticing the weird looks on most of their faces. Except for Cicero, that one doesn’t surprise anyone that knows him.

“It’s done,” Sanguine says, lowering his arms, “Where should I open the door?”

“On the crystal window over there, hopefully, that will protect the glass if anyone gets mad and start a ruckus like last time.”

Calixto sits automatically as Erandur moves him to a chair laying nearby and Aventus offers him a drink, he gulps down the wine, regaining some semblance of control.

“Are you as worried about this as I am?” Calixto asks up to Erandur.

“I’m having an internal panic attack,” the Dunmer whispers back.

A wide red-black portal opens then where Sanguine stands and the two assassins hold their breath until the first form starts crossing thru it.

The female form that comes out of the ‘door’ is covered on a white long dress that shines golden when the light hits it right.

“Meri, welcome!” Sanguine says loudly, “The presents table is over there,” he points at his right, to the corner where Nina stands and a table lays empty but for two boxes covered in bright paper.

“Welcome, Prince Meridia,” Ninada nods at the woman who leaves her own box on the table and pats the elf’s cheek before walking away.

A big ball of writhing tentacles comes in then, followed by a woman with four arms and a black dress that barely covers her figure. Nina receives their gifts and greets them too, “Prince Hermaeus Mora, Prince Mephala.”

And the procession continues, until all the Princes—bar one—are in the room, with some other daedras that weren’t named moving around.

Blaise sits on a chair talking lively with Meridia while Aventus shows the new moves he learned with his dagger to Mehrunes Dagon that looks amused at him. Cicero dances with Mephala, the music having arrived with a group of three daedra that are upside down against the ceiling.

Nina walks near Sanguine, whispers in his ear and gets into the portal. Calixto looks ready to faint while Erandur holds his shoulder tightly. “Did she just walk into Oblivion?” Erandur whispers breathlessly.

When ten minutes go by and the Listener still isn’t back, Calixto and Erandur look ready to burst with concern.

Suddenly a bell rings loudly, stopping the music and the chattering around. The portal shimmers turning violet and explodes in a rain of glitter. Standing there is a man with white hair and glowing golden eyes, dressed in a suit coloured purple-orange, who beams at the room with arms open wide.

“Well?” he asks after a few seconds without losing any cheerfulness, “Aren’t you going to wish me a happy birthday?” he asks as murmurs and grunts roll out of the guests.

“Wait!” Nina’s voice sounds from somewhere, “We’re coming!” she shouts but can’t be seen.

A white portal spits her from the ceiling, right into Sanguine’s waiting arms as a grey armour falls after her, floating down to the floor, gaining varying looks of surprise and hate from the guests.

“Thanks, Sam. See, that’s why you’re my favourite,” Nina kisses Sanguine on the cheek again and gets down, fixing her crown and runs to Sheogorath, hugging him tightly and screaming on his ear, not that he seems to mind, “Happy birthday!!!”

Many happy birthdays are echoed around the room, in varying grades of enthusiasm. Then, the party really starts.

“This is wonderful! I don’t even need to call Haskill for anything,” Sheogorath says toasting his goblet with Sanguine.

“There is no meat here, why?” asks Hircine affronted.

“Shut up and eat whatever already, I love this apple pie!” Clavicus Vile drawls, cutting a portion for Barbas besides him.

“Hmm, yes, this is delicious!” the dog comments at his feet.

“... and then, when Ninada finishes her threat by mentioning the Dark Brotherhood, the mortal shivered like the weakling she is! Ha ha ha!” Johnny finishes telling the story about Delphine with Nina, Dagon and Molag Bal around him, all of them laughing and grabbing their stomach.

“Cicero likes sweetrolls!” the Keeper comments to Mephala and Boethiah, “The Listener makes the best sweetrolls Cicero has tasted, that’s why I had to threaten the thief. No one will take the Listener from Cicero!” He states proudly with a dagger in hand while Maphala licks her lips and Boethiah smiles crookedly.

“Casimir…” a whisper startles Erandur and he turns in place, “My sweet Casimir,” a female with black eyes from back to back grabs his face lovingly between her hands, “Be grateful with the Listener of the Night Mother for finding you, my sweet Casimir, otherwise, without Sithis protection… I would have ripped you to pieces, my sweetling,” she hisses on his face before kissing the scared Dunmer with fury.

Calixto backs away from that crazy situation, whatever that was about, sitting near a couple of women.

He grabs a red bottle and fills his goblet with whatever is in it, forgetting Nina’s warning, but a soft hand grabs the goblet from him before he can take a sip of it, “Sanguine’s brews are dangerous for mortals,” the blond woman says and he recognises her as Azura.

“Thank you, Lady Azura, I forgot about the Listener’s warning,” he receives a smile that melts down his discomfort.

“Here, have this instead, you look peckish,” the other woman with ravens on her shoulders says, putting a plate with some eidar cheese in its place instead.

“Thank you, Lady Nocturnal,” he mumbles, easily recognising her too.

“...and that is the best way to catch a bear,” nods a daedra to the kids listening to him.

“No, no, no!” a big talking walf shakes his head furiously, “You got it all wrong. Don’t listen to him kids, the buzz is getting to his head already.”

“Your attention please!” Sheogorath shouts from his place, ringing a bell on his hand, “I’d like to thank you all for coming to my 228th birthday party and, of course, to the Night Mother and her children who are hosting us tonight!” He raises his goblet, smiling like mad, in the general direction of the Night Mother’s coffin.

“A toast!” Someone shouts and soon everyone is clicking their goblets.


	7. Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab, stab!

###### 5 Sun’s Dawn, 4E 202, Windhelm, Skyrim

After Cael’s birthday party, all the Sanctuary’s residents, but the kids and Nina, woke up with terrible hangovers and had to rest for an entire day to recover. Ninada laughed as she warned them beforehand but they still overindulged.

Nina, Calixto, Ri’irr and the kids are now at Windhelm. Calixto and Aventus came to pack the remaining things they have at their respective houses to take them to the Sanctuary, and they will sell Calixto’s house then, leaving Aventus’s for a safe house for the time being. He will be able to decide what to do with it when he gets older.

They packed everything on the carriage and had it then sent to Dawnstar as they needed to leave to Winterhold afterwards and can’t take care of it. Calixto is going to undergo his first job while Nina and the kids visit the College; she needs to ask for the Elder Scroll and the kids want to meet the mages, Ri’irr though isn’t excited at the prospect of an even colder place than their actual location...

They walked into the Palace of King’s and went to talk with the steward, Jorleif, who always stands beside the Jarl’s throne. The man and Calixto talk about money and other things while the kids snoop around and Nina talks with Wuunferth, the Court Wizard, as he was having dinner at the table.

Ulfric and a man with a bear pelt over his head and back enter the room, they’re discussing about the civil war and a possible attack at Whiterun when they notice Nina. But, before the Jarl can say anything, Galmar puts his feet on his mouth.

“What is this elf doing inside the palace?” Galmar snarls in her direction, “You should be at the Grey Quarter where you belong, pointed ears.”

“What did you say?” “Don’t talk to mother like that!” The kids react, not helping the situation, as they stand in front of the man with their daggers on hand.

Calixto and Jorleif watch from the distance, Nina raises an eyebrow at the stupid man and Wuunferth shifts uncomfortably next to her.

“Children!” Nina calls loudly and they stop talking nonsense at Galmar, that looks down at them as if they’re something he scraped out of his boot, “Put that down and go wait for me at the doors,” they try to object but a glare has them running away.

“Elves adopting kids? My Jarl this should be forbidden…”

“FUS!” Nina shouts at him, destabilizing the man and standing menacingly over him, “Don’t you talk about my kids. You even think about doing anything to them and you won’t enjoy the consequences,” she sneers disgustedly in his direction, but calms down quickly and looks at Ulfric, “I’m sorry for this, Jarl Ulfric, if I knew there was such a racist worm that would start a confrontation around here, I wouldn’t have bothered with coming only to cause problems.”

She walks away, after nodding at Ulfric and receiving one back, but Ri’irr shoots up and releases his full size. The khajiit has Galmar pinned under his paws, who writes and snarls back at the Khajiit.

Ulfric shakes the surprise and shouts for Galmar to stop that nonsense as Nina pats the Khajiit making him calm down too. Calixto walks up to them then, looking warily at Ri’irr as he shrinks, “I think it’s time to leave, don’t you?” Nina nods and they walk away, wary looks following them.

“Wait a moment,” Ulfric calls loudly seeming to just caught onto something and sends away Galmar as he still looks ready to jump into a fight, “You used a shout before, didn’t you?”

“I did,” Nina admits, ignoring the stares from all around.

“Are you the Dragonborn?” He asks and Galmar growls as he hasn't reached the next room yet, exclaiming profanities about elves.

Nina turns her head, assessing the man, “What if I am?”

“I’d like to know which side of the civil war you support then,” and he isn’t the only one waiting for her answer apparently.

“Imperial and Nords never liked each other and fought. As I see it, that isn’t my fight,” Galmar growls again and Nina sighs, “My obligation as Dragonborn and a daughter of Akatosh is to give the Dragon God’s son a good beating to stop trying to rule over the world. My duty is to kill Alduin, nothing more, nothing less,” Nina shrugs intent on walking away.

“What if I asked you to join the Stormcloaks?”

Nina stops on her tracks, turns around, looks at Ulfric and snorts, “You’re serious?” he looks affronted now, “You expect me to join the people who drove my own to almost extinction?” She asks with sarcasm lazing her words and he appears surprised, “You want me to fight alongside racist pigs like him?” She points at Galmar, “Like his brother? That disgusting drunkard that goes to the Grey Quarter every night, insulting elves and is lucky nobody killed him already?” She snorts once more as he frowns, “If I were to join one side, it will most certainly not be yours,” she spats, “Not that I will. As I said, I couldn’t care less about your petty war.”

“Petty war?!” Ulfric shouts in outrage then, his words making the palace tremble with his power, “The Empire kneels to the Thalmor who comes and takes people from their homes for doing what we’ve always done, worship Talos! And you think our war is petty?!”

“Don’t shout at me, brat! ” Nina barely raises her voice but her words move the world around them worse than Ulfric’s did and he looks worried at the ceiling for a moment as the wooden planks holding it complains loudly, “I’m 1785 years old, I know better than you what wars do to the people and how excuses sound,” she drawls with a hiss, restraining the strength of her voice, “Your war is petty and pitiful because instead of doing things like the intelligent human beings you’re supposed to be, you’re killing the people around you in mindless brawls!” Calixto grabs her hand, making her realise the soldiers around them are getting close with weapons at hand, “Bring the kids, quickly,” she whispers and he disappears out of the door not that far from her position.

“And what other way is there that could possibly stop the Thalmor? The Empire will give us in a silver plate if they so much a sneeze a request!”

“Of course they would, you harebrained ape!” Nina snaps, “Because they prefer to do things the intelligent way, they lay down and regroup their forces, to plan a strategy, to get stronger and better prepared before another confrontation against a strong enemy like the Thalmor!” Nina sneers, “But you’re too dull to understand anything but the savages that go around brandishing their weapons around like mindless beasts and punching their problem away! Running headfirst into their own dead beds!” The kids and Calixto walk behind her, “Grab my clothes, all of you,” she whispers at them as Ulfric questions how sitting to think will help them to fight the Thalmor who are killing their people, with frustration, “To fight against a powerful foe you need to prepare a trap that will survive all of their cunning and strength. To stop Molag Bal people got together and defeated him with Meridia’s intervention, to stop Mehrunes Dagon, Martin Septin became a mantle of Akatosh. If you think you will defeat the Thalmor or the Empire with your brawns alone, then you’re a fool,” Nina pulls the Wabbajack from the mage’s pouch and before the soldiers around her can react a portal engulfs them as she shouts ‘Shivering Isles!’.

Ulfric is left sputtering and cursing as his soldiers were unable to catch the Dragonborn, thinking that is better to restrain her on a cell to avoid her joining with his enemies than let her free to wander around and possibly harm their cause. But later, in the dark of the night, while he rests on his bed, he would think about the things she told him.

After a whirlwind engulfed their group, they landed on a heap into another castle. Calixto and Nina grunt in pain as the kids run shouting ‘uncle!’

“Welcome to the Isles, Lady Ninada,” Haskill greets and helps her stand.

“Thank you Haskill, I’m sorry to impose but we were out of options. Do you remember my brother, Calixto?” She motions to the imperial standing to her left.

“Yes, of course, he was entertaining Lady Azura and Lazy Nocturnal the night of the party,” Haskill nods and walks off, “Forgive me, but I have things to take care of.”

“That guy always sounds like that?” Calixto asks fixing his clothes.

Nina laughs, “That’s Haskill, nothing ever faces him.”

As they approach the throne, Sheogorath has a lap-full of kids. Ri’irr rubs his head against the extended hand while Aventus and Blaise sit on his lap begging for stories. Sheogorath laughs madly as the mazken and aureals around him look in bafflement.

“Nina! So good of you to visit, I love this little monsters of yours but take them off of me before I lost it,” Cael exclaims equal parts excited and dreadful.

“Kids get off of your uncle,” they obey after some nagging from Calixto too and Cael rises to hug her, “Are we on time for tea?”

“There’s always time for tea with my bestie!” Sheogorath shouts as his eyes shine brightly, “We will have so much fun together…” he whispers with a dark edge on his voice, clearly not in the best of moods this particular day, Nina mouses with trepidation.

“Is there anyone’s gory demise we need to plan?” She asks hopeful of getting him happier that way.

“Why, yes, there is! Always so thoughtful my friend. The other day, or more like yesterday….” Sheogorath gets lots into a long and convoluted explanation as they sit to have tea on a long table while the kids and Calixto wander around.

Once he gets going, Nina hums and nods along as he explains, maneuvering him into a happy state of mind once more as they plan the death of an elf that insulted him the previous day and he just remembered the words before they arrived, too busy at the moment talking about something or another as to register the Dunmer’s words.

With plans completed and their cups empty, Sheogorath teleports them to the middle of the Hall of Elements, where they startle the group of people on a lesson there.

“Thanks,” Nina kisses his cheek, “Invite me next time you have to plan another of these things, I had fun,” she smiles whispering ‘like old times’.

“Oh my dear, I knew I liked you for a reason,” Sheogorath laughs and pats the heads of the kids hugging his midsection, “Be sure to do a lot of naughty things, brats, bye!”

“Bye uncle Sheogorath!” The kids shout and scream merrily, running around, as the usual glitter after Sheogorath’s teleporting transformed into birds that fly around them attacking their hair with shrill funny sounds coming from them.

“What is the meaning of this!” An altmer in Thalmor robes calls from the door to no avail as nobody pays him attention.

Nina talks with Tolfdir, the mage that was giving lessons to the three students in the room of which one, the khajiit, is kneeling in front of the place Sheogorath just left and bowing again and again, and the Dunmer girl sits on the stairs to the side mumbling an old prayer to Azura as the Nord guy rubs her back soothingly.

The kids meanwhile run around the room, killing the attacking birds and leaving the floor covered in blood as Calixto shakes his head at them while saying, “I’m not cleaning that…”

###### 6 Sun’s Dawn, 4E 202, Winterhold, Skyrim

After explaining her situation to Tolfdir the night before, they got rooms in the inn to sleep, with a date with the Arch-mage pending.

Calixto will scout the surroundings for information that day, so he left alone and early to plan his next move and locate his target.

Nina and the kids had breakfast and left for the college. As they arrived, Ri’irr walked up to J’zargo and started chatting with the khajiit while Aventus and Blaise searched for the instructors to ask about some spells. Nina walked up the stairs, arriving at the Arch-Mage’s room and finding the Thalmor discussing something with the old Dunmer.

Their heads shot up as she walked closer, “Ah, you must be the woman Tolfdir told me about,” the Dunmer greets her with a smile while the Thalmor stares with a blank expression, “I’m Savos Aren, Arch-Mage of the college, and I’ll be happy to help you in whatever way I can, Dragonborn,” and pointing to the Thalmor he introduces them, “Also, this is our resident Thalmor advisor, Ancano.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Ninada Ulvls,” and looking at Ancano she questions, “Are you the same Ancano that burnt Ondolemar’s hair?”

The altmer raises an eyebrow with amusement, “I don’t know what you heard, but it wasn’t me who did that. He made a mistake with his spell, kids should be careful while playing with fire…”

“Let me put this more clear,” Nina says slowly, malice marrying her words, “Are you the asshole who shot my nephew with Frenzy spell just before he casted a highly complicated fire spell, thus causing him to make a mistake that cost him his beautiful golden locks?”

Ancano’s eyes widen for a fraction of a second and his hands twitch at his sides, “I don’t know what you mean, everyone knows that mistake was completely his fault, I did nothing…”

“That better be the case because if I heard again that you so much as sneezed and I don’t like it, you won’t have to worry about Andranirya because I’ll shout your pieces down the college as food to the horkers. Do you understand me, child?” Ancano nods, sweat running down his temples, “I’d hate to have to inform Athyarel of your demise, after all, he seems to like you for some unfathomable reason, so go get lost and don’t cross my path again you little nuisance,” she hisses threateningly and the mer moves quickly out of the way.

Savos clears his throat and tries to hide his smirk as he settles into a chair and fills two goblets for them, “Please sit,” he offers the other chair and the goblet and she sits down, “You can’t imagine how amusing this is, I’ve never seen him so fearful before,” Savos laughs softly.

Nina shrugs with a smile, “They’re drilled about their blank stares all the years of training at the Academy,” she sips the wine with a sigh, it’s sweet just as she likes it, “That guy was jealous of my nephew and made a mistake, so I’ll have leverage over him for a while, let me know if he ever bothers you and I’ll straighten him up,” Nina and Savos share smile in conspiration.

“I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship, Dragonborn.”

“Just call me Nina.”

After talking for a long time, they discussed the topic that drove her there, the Elder Scroll. The Arch-Mage didn’t have much information to share but lead her to the orc in charge of the library, Urag gro-Shub, who shared some interesting books with her.

Septimus Signus is down an iceberg when she finds him. He wrote one of the books Urag showed her, Ruminations on the Elder Scrolls. He may be, emphasis on ‘may’, be of some help.

“When the top level was built, no more could be placed. It was and is the maximal apex,” she heard him mumble as she approaches and his attention falls on her.

“Hello, I’m Nina, I heard you know about Elder Scrolls...”

Septimus nods, “The Empire. They absconded with them. Or so they think. The ones they saw. The ones they thought they saw. I know of one. Forgotten. Sequestered. But I cannot go to it, not poor Septimus, for I... I have arisen beyond its grasp.”

“Do you have it?” Nina asks with a sigh.

“I've seen enough to know their fabric. The warp of air, the weft of time. But no, it is not in my possession.”

“So, where is the Scroll?”

“Here. Well, here as in this plane. Mundus. Tamriel. Nearby, relatively speaking. On the cosmological scale, it's all nearby.”

She takes a deep breath, realising a long and silent sigh, “Can you help me get the Elder Scroll or not?” Nina asks exasperated, thinking this is worse than Sheogorath on one of his days with ‘dementia’ governing his actions more than ‘mania’.

“One block lifts the other. Septimus will give you what you want, but you must bring him something in return.”

But again, at least Septimus doesn’t ask her to play golf with a severed head… He just sends her to a Dwemer dwelling to transcribe a lexicon for him and she’ll find the scroll there, and of course, she goes. Visiting old Dwemer cities is her favourite pastime! …note the sarcasm.

After leaving some septims to the kids, who are more than happy to stay for lessons with the mages, she warns Calixto that he’ll need to stay with them until she’s back. She doesn’t know what is in Blackreach, but better safe than sorry, so she goes only with Ri’irr.

* * *

Blackreach would be pretty if it weren’t for the creepy aura that surrounds the place and the Betrayed that are everywhere. She arrives back from looking for the scroll tired and dirty, just the day before Sanguine’s day too, she realises with relief.

Calixto puts her on a bed and she sleeps, waking up late the next day, taking a long bath and lazily moving around as her muscles are tired from the unexpected long-term expedition down Blackreach. In the evening, she warns them about the festivity of the day and disappears after taking out the staff in the form of a rose. Calixto sighs in relief as she leaves for the party instead of bringing it to them but the kids seem to be of another mind as they pout when nothing happens after a long while.

Ninada isn’t seen until the next day, when she arrives in the middle of the Hall of Elements once again, clad in a red and black silk robe that hugs her figure and leaves the males in the room uncomfortable.

“I’m sorry for the interruption,” she says to Tolfdir who doesn’t really mind this time as she’s alone, “Don’t mind me, I’ll be leaving now.”

“Mom wait!” Blaise shouts running up to her, “Where is Uncle Sam? What happened yesterday?”

“Oh, right…” Nina fumbles around her pouch and takes off two daedric bows, “I knew I was forgetting something, Sanguine sends this for you along with wishes for much misch… he, forget that… I’m obviously too tired, I need sleep.” And she walks away as the kids jump around excited with their new weapons. None of them paying attention to the many shocked stares around the room.

“Argh! How am I supposed to go out like this? I’m going to become an ice block before I reach the rooms with only this silk robe on, stupid Sanguine!” They hear this before the door to the outside opens, a cold breeze making everyone shiver.

“Did I hear that right? She mentioned Sangui-” Onmund is hit on the back of his head by Brelyna, who says not to mention their names so carelessly.

“Ignore her,” Calixto warns from where he sat reading a book, “It’s always like this around her. Trying to understand the madness that is Nina will only drive you to headaches and grey hair,” and seeing the wisdom in his words, Tolfdir proceeds with the lessons of the day.

Later, coming back from Septimus’s outpost, Nina is grumpy.

“We are leaving after lunch,” she mumbled sitting at the table with the others, “Now that I have the scroll I want to end this thing quickly,” and she hums as she drinks the warm soup, “Hopefully, I’ll be done with Alduin before my birthday!”

###### 18 Sun’s Dawn, 4E 202, Throat of the world

Calixto, Nina and Ri’irr fight savagely against Alduin, who is down by the force of Dragonrend, with Paarthurnax helping every time the black dragon flies up.

Nina shouts, throws spells and slashes her sword, Calixto helps with spells and a bow damaging the beast's wings, Ri’irr tears pieces off of the dragon and Paarthurnax breaths fire as he finds openings.

This seems to work fine for a while, Nina already can see the end near and a smile lits her face.

And Alduin flies once more, but instead of fighting Paarthurnax, he runs away!

“No!” Nina tries to shout but it’s too soon yet and her throat complains, “Come back here and fight me!” She tries to use Dragonrend once more as his silhouette disappears in the distance, to no avail.

Panting and tired she falls on the snow, “Come back, you motherfucker!” She screams herself hoarse, molten lava filling her veins and rage tearing her lungs as she roars her fury to the world around her, that trembles with the onslaught of her unrestrained voice, her unleashed power out of control starting a lightning storm.

Calixto and Ri’irr run down the mountain, the Imperial praying that he doesn’t get struck by lightning, like Paarthurnax. He doesn’t think he’ll laugh as the dragon does.

“Ha ha ha, I haven’t felt this alive in millennia!” The dragon growls as lighting strikes him once more and watches the Dovahkiin face-down on the side of the mountain.

###### 20 Sun’s Dawn, 4E 202, Windhelm

As Nina became upset after Alduin’s cowardly getaway, she travelled back to the palace alone. Her anger bubbling on the surface, she’s very dangerous right now, better not tempt luck by going to the place where they had a confrontation against the Jarl once already.

Calixto gave the kids some money to eat and buy sweets while he talked with Jorleif at the palace of King’s. So, here they are, walking along the walls of the city.

“I miss Cicero…” Aventus mumbles and Blaise nods.

“What do you feel like eating? Maybe some stew?” Blaise comments rubbing his cold arms over his clothes.

“Yeah, Elda’s horker stew is the best… hey, look, is Captain Lonely-Gale!” Aventus runs a few steps as a tall Nord walks in the direction of the inn a few meters ahead, Blaise hot on his heels, “Hey Captain!”

“Hello, kid! Haven’t seen you in a while, but heard about that thing in the Jarl’s palace…” Lonely-Gale comments, curious.

“Tell us a story about pirates and I’ll tell you about mom’s fight with Jarl Ulfric!” Aventus jumps with a smile and the man nods.

“Sure kid. Hello Elda, three stews on me!” The man orders and the kids run up the stairs to sit in front of the fire.

“Beef is on today, that’s fine with you Captain?” Elda informs him, going for the kitchen.

“Sure thing and bring us some bread too…” Lonely-Gale sits with a sigh, warming his hands on the roaring fire, “Well, what do you want to hear about today?”

They eat the hot pots with bread while the Captain tells them a tale of his boyhood, before getting to the top and becoming the captain, about the crew fighting off a pirate attack in the middle of the Abecean Sea. The kids love it! They sit laughing in front of the fire as they eat sweetrolls, they buy one extra for the man in thanks for the meal and tell him about the parts they got to witness about the confrontation between the Jarl and the Dragonborn.

“Mom is awesome!” Blaise says proudly.

“But never fight her, she’s always right and her glare…ugh!” Aventus shivers comically and they laugh.

“You kids are lucky to have the Dragonborn as a mother,” the Captain comments with a smile, “If anything, she’ll have many interesting stories to tell you!” And they laugh some more.

They walk alongside the Captain as he needs to go down the docks and walk along the Grey Quarter, talking about many things and looking for Aventus’ only friend, Sofie, which wasn’t around Candleheart as usual.

“Maybe she’s near the stalls?” Blaise tries.

“No,” Aventus shakes his head, “The stuffy people go there and they never buy a thing from her, maybe she went to gather more flowers,” he shrugs as they walk up the slope, in Calixto’s old house direction.

As they get closer to Niranye’s garden, they hear cries and laboured breathing. They look at each other, nodding their heads and start to sneak nearer the walls.

“..should have stayed away, I always said it, keep the damn elves away, look what you’ve done now kid, made me kill the bitch,” Rolff Stone-Fist drawls drunkenly, bloody dagger in hand and a dead corpse on the floor at his feet.

“P-pleas-se d-d-don’t,” Aventus eyes go wide, that is Sofie’s voice!

“You made friends with that elf bitch, you’re as disgusting as her!” Rolff screams, lunging for the cornered and sobbing girl.

Aventus and Blaise jump into action. Blaise in front of the girl, his arms crossed over his head stopping the lounge of the dagger while Aventus jumps on the man’s back and claws with his little fingers at the man’s eyes. Rolff thrashes in pain as Aventus plugs his eyes out and Blaise kicks him between the legs causing the man to howl in pain, kicking the dagger aside as he lets it drop from his grasp.

Rolff falls to the floor blind as Aventus lands on his feet behind him, both grab their elven daggers in hand, ready to strike at the sobbing man kneeling on the floor but get a surprise as Sofie lounges at him with the man’s own bloody dagger at hand.

“You bastard!” Sofie cries, stabbing the man on the neck and blood leaps out of the slashed artery, “Why Suvaris?!” Sofie cries again and stabs the man repeatedly on his back, “She was the only one!” Sofie sobs and slumps back from the body, dagger falling to the floor, “The only one who ever showed some mercy to me…” her shoulders shake as she weeps.

“You’re better with destruction,” Blaise says to his friend, Aventus seems startled.

“What…?”

“Burn them, we can’t carry the bodies away in the middle of the day and a guard is bound to patrol here any moment, I’ll take Sofie to your house so she can get clean before we have to leave,” Aventus nod, understanding now and watches them leave, preparing the flames on his hand. Thankfully his house is close by.

Looking down beside the Nord’s dead body, he pockets any coins they may have and the bloody dagger as an afterthought, thinking that maybe Sofie will like a memento. Flames shot from his hands and the bodies burn, black smoke rising from them in seconds, the pungent smell of burnt meat thick in the air. He doesn’t stay or admires his work, he runs away quickly, to avoid the guards and nosy people sure to arrive at any moment.

Calixto arrives into the Aretino residence and the place is disturbingly quiet. He walks up the stairs, into the bedroom, to find three kids sleeping on the bed instead of two. What is going on now?

The tub to the side has water with what looks like blood colouring it, his doubts get confirmed when he notices the bloody clothes inside a can beside the tub, Calixto sighs tiredly and shakes his head. He walks off once more, thinking of how he’s going to explain this to the Listener when they arrive at the Palace in the night…

Half an hour later, he walks into the house one more. The kids are awake and the little girl looks shyly at him, he recognises her, of course he does, Sofie and he shared lots of meals the past year. Poor girl lost her last parent after the man joined the Stormcloaks like the dickhead he was, not that he’d ever say such a thing in front of her.

“I’ve brought you something to wear, those other clothes are completely ruined,” he leaves a package on the table for her and takes the bloody clothes to throw away, “Get changed,” he looks at the boys muddy clothes, “All of you, we need to get going to the palace already,” and he walks away, “I’ll be waiting outside, don’t take too long.”

Sofie sighs as he doesn’t seem angry, maybe it’s alright then to go along…?

“Come on Sofie!” Aventus pulls her hand, “Change so we can go, you’re going to love the palace, is really pretty,” he smiles at her, making the uneasy go away a little bit.

“Are you sure it is alright? What if she doesn’t want me…?” Sofie asks lowering her head.

“We are sure,” Blaise says putting the clothes on her hands, “Mother is going to love you, there is no way she won’t. You’ll have to trust us, we know her better.”

They push her behind the wood panel separating the tub from the bedroom and stand waiting on the other side, mumbling things she can’t properly hear as she puts on the nice and clean dress Calixto got for her. There are also socks, boots, gloves and a thick black cloak.

She walks to the door and notices they have the same kind of cloaks, “Are we going to somewhere colder?” She asks inspecting the cloaks.

“The palace is a bit more to the north,” Blaise comments leading them outside.

“Is at the limits of Morrowind, we’re actually going to Morrowind,” Aventus adds smiling, “It’s really beautiful, like nothing you’ve ever seen around here, I assure you.”

“Mom’s father constructed the place over a thousand years ago apparently,” Blaise tells her, “Oh, right!” Blaise suddenly says and looks at her, “Have you eaten?” She shakes her head, “I’ll go buy something real quick, you go ahead!” Blaise shoots away before they can say anything.

They walk in silence over the long bridge, coming to the carriage where Calixto sits waiting, “Where is Blaise?”

“Sofie hasn’t eaten anything,” Aventus explains and the man nods.

“Sofie,” he calls softly and the girl flinches, “No, don’t worry little one,” he tries to calm her with a softer tone of voice, “I just wanted to make sure you’re fine,” he raises his hand, “Do you want me to heal that swollen cheek, sweetheart?”

Sofie raises her head with a questioning look at Aventus who nods with a smile, “Calixto is a Restoration Master, you can trust him,”

Sofie gives the man a little smile and he gets his hand closer very slowly so she doesn’t get scared, warm soothes the painful throb on her cheek, Rolff hit her hard and made her see stars when he appeared out of nowhere and attacked, she sighs as the hand retreats and her cheek is back to normal, “Thank you,” she mumbled softly and the Imperial smiled back at her.

Blaise arrives then, sitting with them on the carriage and Calixto takes hold of the reigns as they start their short trip to the palace.

Once they’re a good distance away from the stables, Calixto asks aloud, “What happened kids?”

Sofie looks down at her lap, half-eaten sandwich forgotten, as Aventus and Blaise start explaining how they found her. They tell the entire truth and dread settles on Sofie, surely they’ll leave her she thinks, but no screams or other bad reactions take place as Calixto just hums and keeps silent.

“That is what all the ruckus was about then? Rolff finally lost it?” Calixto shakes his head, “Stupid drunkard,” he growls out, “Who of you had the pleasure of ending the miserable man then?” He asks looking back at them with a devious smile that surprises Sofie.

“We were about to…” Blaise mumbles fidgeting in his seat.

“Sofie was quicker and took our kill!” Aventus chirps with a dagger in hand, “One second she was on the corner and the next she was all over Rolff. Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab! She is really good at it!” He finishes with a big smile directed at her.

Sofie gets startled as Calixto laughs, “Kids these days,” he says with a shake of his head, “You don’t stop surprising me. Next, we’ll have an army of kids assassins! Ha ha ha!”

Aventus and Blaise laugh along as Sofie looks around at them, confused. Shouldn’t they be angry that she killed someone? That’s what should be happening… right?

###### 21 Sun’s Dawn, 4E 202, Snow Elf Palace

Sofie wakes up on a warm bed, disoriented as she last remembered the carriage with Aventus, Blaise and Calixto. Where is she? She sits up, rubbing her eyes and notices Blaise sleeping on a bed to her left and someone talking to Aventus to her right. She looks around the room and stares at the strange white stone of the walls…

The one talking to Aventus stands and Sofie notices that is a woman, an elf by the pointed ears. The woman walks to her and sits on the bed smiling.

“Hello Sofie,” says the elf and Sofie smiles, she seems nice the girl thinks.

“Hello,” Sofie whispers.

“I am Ninada Ulvls, but you can call me Nina or whatever you want, okay?” The woman says, her voice is soft and musical, soothing.

“Are you their mum?” Sofie asks, nodding to Aventus and Blaise.

“I’m Blaise’s mother, yes. Aventus didn’t want adoption. He’s just brother Aventus.”

“Brother?” Sofie asks with curiosity.

Nina smiles, “We are all a big family… Maybe I’ll explain in detail later. Are you hungry?” Nina asks and Sofie blushes as her stomach growls, “It seems so, let us go, food should be waiting for us already.”

The woman stands and she’s really tall, Sofie compares her with the altmer lady from the stables on her head. She stands from the bed and notices she’s using a comfy white nightdress, “Should I put some clothes…” she starts to ask but Blaise jumps from his bed with a scream as Aventus runs away. Blaise's head is damp as his brother threw a cup of water at him.

“Get back here, I’ll jump rope with your entrails as uncle Sheo taught me!” Blaise runs after Aventus.

“What?” Sofie whispers perplexed.

“Ignore them, dear, there’s no need to change, I’m on my nightgown too,” the elf tells Sofie who just notices the long silk dress she wears.

“Okay…”

Nina offers her hand and Sofie takes it meekly. They walk along a corridor and passing a door they come into a big room full of people that stop chatting as they look at her.

“Good morning, my Queen,” a lady that looks like Nina vows as she stands in front of them, “Is this the little princes?” She asks looking down at Sofie who tries to hide from the attention behind Nina.

“Morning Vyrvhis, this is Sofie, our new family member,” Nina introduces her and Sofie notices the woman smirks.

“She’s cute.”

Nina sits on the end of the table, letting Sofie take the chair to her right, “Morning sister,” Nina smiles at a woman to her left who seems more asleep than awake and only grumbled incoherently in response, “This is my little sister Taarie,” Ninada tells Sofie, pocking the other elf on the nose before her head falls in the plate on the table, “The khajiit over there with Blaise is my eldest son, K’arr. He is the Guild Master of the Thieves Guild,” she tells Sofie who widens her eyes comically, “R’sien is the middle brother and Ri’irr is the youngest, but they are still sleeping so you’ll meet them later.”

A male enters the room, sitting beside Taarie, “Good morning,” he says and many people around answers, “Are you in a better mood today, cousin?” he asks looking at Nina.

“Yes,” Nina smiles, “The kids brought a surprise guest yesterday, this is Sofie,” Nina motions to her and the girl blushes as the man stares for a moment, smiling a while later and nodding at her.

“Are you trying to form an army of kids, Nina?” The two adults laugh.

“Well, since I don’t plan on having any of my own…” Nina shrugs and Vyrthur frowns.

“Did you noticed?” he asked suddenly, “Anya is…”

“Pregnant? Humm, yes… Does it really surprises you?”

“I’m just… I can’t wrap my head around it, I guess…”

“What is bothering you really? That that is your kid or that she doesn’t expect you to recognize it as yours or care for it?”

Vyrthur shrugs, “Both I guess, I always thought I’d marry and form a family… then the Betrayed attacked and so few of us survived, my vampirism also… This seems so sudden…” he shakes his head.

“You know you have a choice, don't you?” Nina asks and he hums in consideration looking at the pregnant elf, “She lives here, you can visit and be a part of your kid’s life as they grow up, there’s no need to look from the distance.”

“You’re right, of course, I just don’t feel ready to be a parent…”

“No one ever does, my friend,” Nina tells him with a grin, “But is the most amazing adventure you can undertake, parenthood.”

Vyrthur smiles, “I hope you’re right.”

“I have three khajiit, two little Nords and a Breton, I know what I’m talking about,” Nina points at him and Vyrthur raises his hands in defence.

“True, true,” he nods and smiles, “What is her story anyway.”

“A brutish Nord assault her for befriending a Dunmer, the kids found them and stopped the guy, she killed him.”

“She did?” Vyrthur asks surprised.

“Only after Blaise kicked him in the balls and Aventus gouged his eyes out,” Sofie whispered with hate in her eyes as she stabs the leek on her plate.

“Wow,” Vyrthur exclaims, “You really know how to pick them,” he laughs.

“My kids are amazing,” Nina says with a smile.

* * *

Nina and the kids are having tea on the outside garden later that afternoon when loud steps approach, “Listener!!!” A shadow shots into Nina’s lap, “Cicero missed you so much!” The man cries as he nuzzles his head on her stomach and the elf pats his back.

“This is brother Cicero, Sofie,” Nina tells the startled girl, “He’s over-enthusiastic and hyperactive but you cuddle him and he’s harmless,” she smiles.

Cicero raises his head and looks at the little girl, “Have Cicero gained a new little sister?” He asks with a big smile.

“Yes, she’s part of the family now,” Nina tells him, “We’ll see which one she wants to be around after I explain how we work, alright brother?”

“Cicero understands, not everyone is made for certain things…”

“Actually, I think she’ll like spending time with us in the Sanctuary,” Blaise shouts, tackling Cicero to the ground and laughing as the jester tickles him in retaliation.

“What do they mean?” Sofie asks and K’arr looks at her appraisingly.

“Has mother explained my… job?”

“You’re a thief,” the girl states without judgement. She had to the same sometimes or she wouldn’t eat after all. She’s no one to judge him.

K’arr nods, “I’m the leader of my organization, mother is the leader of… another, different organization.” Sofie hums, stroking R’sien’s fur and enjoying the feel of it, thinking about the Khajiit’s words.

“Good evening,” a Dunmer greets them from the hall, “Calixto,” he greets the imperial with a nod, “How was your contract, brother?”

“It was well, no problems,” the Dunmer raises an eyebrow and the Imperial looks around, “Young ears…” he whispers only for the elf to hear, “Let me introduce you to Sofie, the kids brought her into our not-so-little dysfunctional family. This is Erandur, sweetheart.”

“Are you a priest?” the little girl asks him looking at his robes.

“Yes, between other things…”

“What kind of priest?”

“Brother Erandur is a naughty priest, he serves Vaermina and Mara,” Cicero says in a sing-song, moving his eyebrows funnily, Blaise shrieks hanging from his back as he stands.

“Naughty priest,” Vyrthur jokes as he sits nearby, shooting a smirk at Erandur.

“Uncle Vyrthur is also a priest,” Blaise says from Cicero’s back, “of Auriel!” and he shrieks as Cicero launches him on the air.

“But he doesn’t like it much anymore,” Aventus tells her, “He became a vampire for many years and got angry.”

“He’s a vampire?” She whispers with some fear.

“Was,” Vyrthur comments from his seat, “then Nina happened,” and he smiles as the aforementioned elf swatted his arm. “And suddenly I wasn’t anymore…”

“But… Vaermina is a Daedra Lord right?” They answer her with nods, “Aren’t daedra evil?” She asks and most of them blink owlishly at her.

“Evil? Don’t do anything to anger them and they’re fine,” Nina shrugs, taking the Wabbajack from her pouch, “Maybe you should get to know another of your uncles to get an idea,” she smiles tapping the heads of the staff with her nail.

“Someone said cabbage?!” A man appears in the room with glitter raining everywhere.

“Hello Cael,” Nina waves, “We have a new member in the family,” she points at Sofie.

“Oh, another little brat! Let uncle Sheogorath know if someone bothers you and I’ll drive them mad for you, my dear,” he says with a smile as he presents her with a teddy that has a creepy wide smile sewed on its head.

“Thank you!” Sofie says hugging the teddy.

“At this rhythm, we will conquer the world with kids alone!” Cael says to Nina while sitting for some tea.


	8. Like a dragon

######  23 Sun’s Dawn, 4E 202, Dawnstar Sanctuary 

“Okay everyone put the things away and have some rest,” Nina ushers her brothers away as they enter the Sanctuary, and Cicero runs off to prepare her a bath so she can listen to Mother afterwards and he has to oil the corpse too.

The twenty-two was Nina’s birthday, so she explained things to Sofie today, early in the morning. The little girl is stubborn and doesn’t like to show fear, but getting to know that her new family is a bunch of murderers and worshipers of Daedra unsettled her… or as much as she could get unsettled after meeting the Daedric Prince Sheogorath the day before.

She came along, after thinking about it for a while. She doesn’t scare easily and wants to know her family better. The praises from Cicero for her first kill also helped.

Nina settles in front of the Night Mother’s coffin, a plush pillow under her knees and a cup of tea from Erandur that walks away quickly to leave her to Listen and the Keeper to care for Mother, dutifully as always. Keeper and Listener tend to the Night Mother while the rest of the family settle on the table to have tea and cake.

Cicero hasn’t finished when Nina opens her eyes next, he’s still oiling the body of Mother and chanting the ritualistic prayers. She stays sitting there, in a daze, as the details of the new contracts piece together in her memory… and five minutes later, she stands and walks away.

She grabs a book from the library, where Calixto is putting the new books away and walks to her room to relax. It’s not long until Erandur walks inside, sitting on the bed with worry.

“Is everything alright?” He murmurs.

“Yes…” Nina tries to reassure him and causes his eyebrows to rise with an amused smile.

“You’re usually better at lying than this, Listener,” he whispers and laughs as she shoves his shoulder playfully.

“I received news from Mother. I’m... excited? Or, bewildered more like…” she laughs.

“Let me help you relax,” Erandur propones, rubbing her shoulders softly and Nina hums rolling down on the bed and letting him settle on top of her pliant body.

She gets roused from the edge of sleepiness by the door opening and a loud gasp ringing through the previously silent room.

“I can explain…” Erandur says softly, trying to stand but getting caught by her hand.

“Keep doing your thing, Erandur,” Nina says, looking back at the door and realizing Calixto is there, “What is it, brother?”

Calixto points at Erandur accusingly and she raises an eyebrow questioningly, “Sister, can you really not feel that?” Calixto makes a motion to the Dunmer’s hips moving against her lower back, “It’s so disrespectful…” he says accusingly but is stopped from commenting further as Cicero arrives with a tired sigh and caughts sight of the goings on at her bed.

“Oh, Cicero arrived just on time!” He says exuberantly, getting naked under the startled gaze of Calixto.

“What the hell, Cicero?” Calixto exclaims, stopping the man from jumping on them.

Cicero looks back at his fellow Imperial with surprise, “Sorry brother, would you prefer Cicero to pay attention to you?” The jester drawls with a smile, surprising the necromancer, further so as Cicero kisses him with gusto afterwards.

“Holy shit,” the female of the room gasps as she watches Cicero rub against the startled man that moans with lidded eyes, “That’s hot…” she whines pushing against the warm body at her back.

“Listener, please…” Erandur whispers in her ear, sending delicious shivers down her back.

Nina raises her hips invitingly, humming at the pleasurable intrusion that comes soon after. She moans as she watches the Keeper on his knees, sucking off Calixto that stands against the wall beside them.

* * *

The next day, when everyone is awake and having breakfast, Calixto enters the room last, sitting awkwardly on a chair until Nina has mercy and using telekinesis brings a pillow closer to his face.

“Thank you,” he mumbled with downcast eyes and rosy cheeks as he put it under his buttocks.

“You’re welcome, brother,” Nina sips her tea and smirks deviously at him as he tries to ignore her stare, “I know the feeling, the first time I got a glimpse of Cicero’s monster I ended up much the same,” Calixto chokes on his drink while Erandur and the jester laughs, although, the kids grimace and run away from the disgusting adults.

Later, the kids along with her, they go hunting. Aventus and Blaise are more than happy to help Sofie with learning the ins and outs of archery, explaining the proper ways to skin animals or building shelters on places like Dawnstar which is cold and gets ranging blizzards all the time. When they find an elk, Sofie is the first one to shoot, hitting the animal between the ribs.

“That isn’t the best place to shoot, but it’s good enough for a first-timer,” Nina pats her back and smiles at the proud little girl, “Time to learn to track then, easy on snowy places and with a bleeding target, I know,” she adds as the boys grunt, “but we all must start with the basics, come on boys, remind me and Sofie how we track our prey…”

They find the dead elk down on the snow half an hour later, drowned in its own blood because of the wound, they hung the animal from a tree, skinning it and cleaning the carcass, separating all that is edible from the useless parts. Sofie is less squeamish than Nina expected and she tells her so, proudly.

Bringing the meat for the working men at the island where the crypt for the Night Mother is undergoing its construction, they set up a fire and Nina starts preparing the meat for a nice roast. The men and all of them sit to eat when the food is ready and Delvin gives her an update on the situation, explaining that things are fine and the job seems to be going quicker than they expected as they didn’t find any problems with materials arriving late like it sometimes happens.

The new crypt will be ready on another couple of months if things keep working out this good.

Just in time for them to go back to Riften, as K’arr has been working hard on reinstating their good reputation and growing their network around all of Skyrim, the Thieves Guild has a lot of work once more.

######  27 Sun’s Dawn, 4E 202, Volunruud 

Leaving Ri’irr under an invisibility spell to trot behind her, Nina walks into the chamber where Amaund Motierre waits for her.

She did her homework on him and found that he is quite an interesting character, she didn’t have more than mention the man to get Vittoria talking about him too. She remembers with amusement how her friend suddenly developed a barbed tongue while telling her details about the Elder Council and its members as she walks into the Nordic crypt and lifts the invisibility spell, but only from her.

“By the almighty Divines!” Motierre whispers catching sight of her sudden unveiled figure, “You've come. You've actually come. This dreadful Black Sacrament thing... it worked,” Motierre gushes with some dread and no little relief.

“The Night Mother heard your pleas, Motierre,” she says with the cowl over her mouth dampening her tone of voice and making it hard to recognise.

“Yes, um... So it would seem. Well, I won't waste your time. I would like to arrange a contract. Several, actually. I daresay, the work I'm offering has more significance than anything your organization has experienced in, well, centuries.”

As you remain silent, he shifts in place skittishly.

“Right, then. As I said, I want you to kill several people. You'll find the targets, as well as their manners of elimination, quite varied. I'm sure someone of your disposition will probably even find it enjoyable. But you should know that these killings are but a means to an end. For they pave the way to the most important target. The real reason I'm speaking with a cutthroat in the bowels of this detestable crypt. For I seek the assassination of... ...the Emperor.”

“Leaders rise and fall. Business is business,” she says with a nod, already knowing this from the information the Night Mother provided.

“Oh, wonderful. You don't know how happy I am to hear you say that. So much has led to this day. So much planning, and manoeuvring. It's as if the very stars have finally aligned. But I digress. Here, take these to your, um... superior. Rexus. The items,” The soldier, a bodyguard that’s been on service of the Motierre family for a long time, gets closer and hands her an amulet and a letter, “The sealed letter will explain everything that needs to be done. The amulet is quite valuable—you can use it to pay for any and all expenses.”

Nina raises the amulet to her eyes, admiring the quite unique craftsmanship of the old thing and humming in appreciation, “It’s been long since I got to admire one of these,” she says and the man chokes on his own spit with surprise. As she proceeds to open the letter in her hand, he raises an eyebrow and seems to be about to say something but gets a bewildered expression as she laughs uproariously.

“Oh my...” Nina shakes her head hitting the letter with one hand and tsking, “This won’t do, no, no, no. This won’t do at all,” she raises a hand to rub at her eyes and the other that is clasping the letter stops him from talking, “They are just extras, right?” She asks, pointing at the names on the letter.

“Yes, but there is a reason for it…” she shakes her hand shutting him up.

“The sacrament you performed is for the Emperor’s death and he will be murdered, but this,” Nina points once again at the paper, “This is not going to happen, too convoluted, too many unnecessary risks, the Penitus Oculatus even,” you hiss at him, “Have you all gone mad these last two centuries? I don’t remember the Elders being so stupid last time I met them, seriously,” she shakes her head and sighs, “I have an easier way to get to the Emperor, and quicker than this mess you’ve planned and would take most of a year to arrange,” she sighs once more and puts her hands on her hips, “It seems that I need to pay a visit to my old friend…” she turns around, ignoring the man hurried footsteps behind her as she walks away from the old crypt.

As the four of them walk out of the ruin, a dragon roars in the distance. Motierre whimpers and the guard arms himself while Nina sighs, again.

“Stupid oversized lizards…” Nina grumbled, getting odd looks from the men next to her.

She walks away from the crypt and stands to attention as the dragon flies overhead, readying his thu’um to attack.

“Yol Toor Shul” “Joor Zah Frul” both shouts ring loudly, echoing on the mountain air, clashing against each other. His fire burns against her skin, the desire of testing his skills against the Dovahkiin of legend clashing against her mind as the dragon growls and falls down with a curse.

“Daar mindol fen ni dreh aan truk wa fus hond dii mul ol nii drey dii botaas!” _This trick will not do a thing to force away my strength as it did my flying!_

Nina fights the dragon until he lays panting and tired on the floor, very much like her. He’s strong and his red scales are pretty so she gets an idea in her head as she doesn’t like the thought of killing him.

“Zu'u lassdilok aan haal voth aan mal truk. Uv, dreh hi laan wa dir naal dii tuz…?” _I need a hand with a little thing. Or, do you want to die by my blade…?_ She tells him getting some air but her sword is posed to strike him down if he gets any funny ideas as she waits for an answer.

“I may be amenable to your kind offer, Dovahkiin,” the dragon tells her slowly, watching her sit on the ground with a sigh.

“Do you know where Alduin hides from me?” Nina asks rubbing her muscles from slashing with her blade and looking warily at him.

“Geh, zu'u mindok do daar staad.” _Yes, I know of this place._

“Pruzah, I’ll let you go if you promise to take me there after both of us recover from this fight,” she proposes crossing her arms.

The dragon sighs, hot air wafting against her face, “Zu'u fen dreh nii,” _I will do it_ , “But you will need to know my thu’um to call for me when the time comes, I am Odahviing,” he says and the knowledge of a new shout, his personal call, rushes into her mind.

“Snow, hunter, wing?” she asks with a pensive look, “I would have picked ‘pretty, fire, scales’ or something like that myself, but to everyone their own I guess…” she says standing once more and dusting her armour.

The dragon rolls his big head and looks fixedly at her, “You think of dovah as pretty?” He asks with curiosity.

She looks at his long body and smiles, “Well, you are handsome for a dragon I suppose, I just like the red scales... But don’t get me wrong, there are some assholes out there who scare the shit out of me and I’ve seen ugly faces before,” she makes a face, “Have you ever met a Vampire Lord?”

The dragon stops his raspy laugh to growl, “Geh, ugly things,” he snorts and flames shout from his mouth.

“I crossed paths with a Dov the other day that looked like one of those,” she shivers and the dragon laughs again, “Don’t laugh, it was downright nightmarish!” She pouts.

“You are funny for a joor,” he stands to his full height and flaps his wings, “Until next time, Dovahkiin,” he rises on the air with a painful groan and flies away.

“Bye Odahviing,” she says and sighs, rubbing a sore spot on her back as she turns to walk back to the Sanctuary and jumps startled, “Fah faal Rahhe!” _For the Gods!_ She gasps clutching her chest, “What are you still doing here?!” She asks at Motierre and his bodyguard who looks at her with mouths hanging open.

“You’re that one from the Nords legends!” Motierre says shrilly.

Nina shrugs, “What about it?” She asks.

“You’re supposed to be a hero and defeat some kind of powerful Dragon prophesied to eat the world!” He spits with an accusing finger in her direction.

Nina sighes, looking at him with a glare that makes him backpedal on his attitude, “Being a member of the Thieves Guild in Cyrodiil didn’t stop me from helping kick Mehrunes’ ass two hundred years ago, so why would being a member of the Dark Brotherhood stop me from killing a lizard with delusions of grandeur now?” She deadpans and the man gulps down.

“You aren’t the Hero…” he whispers incredulously.

“Of course not, don’t be ridiculous. Cael has better things to do as a Prince than prance around Skyrim killing obnoxious dragons,” she takes a drink of water, calming her parched throat after using her thu’um on the fight, “I imagine that you can keep secrets as a member of such a noble family as yours…?” Nina asks and he nods warily, “Good then, keep my little secret and I’ll keep yours,” he nods enthusiastically understanding the threat and she winks before walking away, “Watch out for the news, he’ll be dead soon enough…”

“What did she meant by ‘Prince’...?” Motierre asks after a while and Rexus only grunts beside him as he doesn’t understand either.

######  28 Sun’s Dawn, 4E 202, Whiterun 

Nina hums happily as she takes a bath at Breezehome. She finishes writing the last letter, this one to Nireth, so her friend knows to wait for her in the following week or so. Killing the Emperor isn’t something difficult for someone who can walk into his residence by secret passages long forgotten to anyone but a handful of people alive. Hopefully, she’ll kill Alduin first so she can get some extended holidays at Cyrodiil…

She gets off the water and dries her body with a fluffy towel, wrapping it around her head as she walks back to her room.

“Morning cousin,” she greets Vyrthur who goes wide-eyed at her nudity.

“Put something on woman!” He answers with a shout and she laughs.

With a plain white satin dress on and some flats, she brushes her hair and straps a dagger to one of her tights. A few drops of perfume on her neck and she’s ready for the day. Downstairs, Vyrthur sits in front of the fire on full armor, Nina shakes her head when she sees him.

“Anyone will think you’re ready for war Vyr,” he rolls his eyes, but smiles at her nonetheless as she fixes one of his eyebrows after licking one of her thumbs, “Did you wake up in the middle of a blizzard? Your eyebrows are all messed up!” She laughs as they walk out of her house, which is more his than anyone else's really.

“The Jarl first?” He asks as they walk to the Gildergreen.

“Yes, I heard some things about one of his children that got me curious last night.”

As they arrive, Vyrthur walks away to talk with Farengar, they became good friends after some time, as her cousin lived in the city for so long. She talks with the Jarl for a while, asking about the rumours and promising to talk with his kid and also updating him on the dragons situation, the man looks much happier when she reveals that she’s resting for a couple of days before confronting Alduin one last time. If the Gods smile at her and he doesn’t get an opportunity to run once more…

“Between the Civil War and the dragons, I don’t really know how Skyrim will end,” he comments showing his worry.

“About that…” Nina mumbles getting closer to his ear and gaining a glare from his housecarl, “I visited Windhelm a while ago and overheard Ulfric discussing an invasion of Whiterun.”

He gasps getting away and looks at her sharply, “You must not jest about such things…”

“I’m afraid it’s true, my friend Calixto as well as my two boys were present and can attest to it,” she says grimly and the Jarl goes slack on his seat with a hand over his head while Irileth unashamedly worries over him, “I’ll go see what is the fuss with your kid, I’m sure you have important things to do,” Nina stands and nods at the grateful look he gives her.

Talking with Nelkir reveals a bigger and more dangerous surprise than she expects. He talks about the Whispering Lady, a secret door, whispered secrets, and self-doubt. Nina never liked dealing with the darkest Princes, it’s always so messy…

But, surprisingly, the Ebony blade has been warded away for so long that its power isn’t what it used to. She smirks down at the blade and puts it on her pouch. It will be a good addition to her ever-growing collection.

As she walks to the doors of Dragonsreach, Vyrthur looks up at her with a raised eyebrow, “Do I want to know why you sneaked behind Farengar a while ago?”

“No, you don’t,” he sighs as she smiles and tugs his arm to follow, “Let's go, I need to clean up my inventory.”

Vyrthur rolls his eyes, following along, “Oh joy, shopping…”

After making a visit to the merchants Arcadia has her storage room full to the brim with ingredients and some free potions that Nina only wanted to know the effects of and if they still worked, Adrianne bought all of the weapons, armour and useful smithing materials from her, and Belethor got saddled with many other things she doesn’t really need, she never understands what the man does with them…

They go into the inn to eat and come out with a terrible storm falling down, thunder rumbling in the distance and Dragons roaring. Ugh…

“They better not come to the city…” she whispers as they watch from the door how the dragons attack each other on the air, almost plummeting to the earth, but flying away at the last second.

As the dragons fly in different directions after fighting for an hour, the storm stops. They walk down the stairs of the inn and find a shivering little girl that lays curled over a ragged sheet and completely wet.

“Nina, don’t…” Vyrthur mumbles but sighs as she walks away anyway.

“Hey there darling,” Nina touches the shoulder of the girl and she jumps, looking up at the elf with wide and fearful wet eyes, “Why are you here?”

The girl sniffs as fat tears run down her cheeks, “I don’t have anywhere else to go…” she whispers hoarsely.

Nina hums, furrowing her brows, “No parents or relatives?” She asks, but already knows the answer. Stupid Civil War.

The girl shakes her head, “No. Mum, she… she died. My aunt and uncle took over our farm and threw me out. Said I wasn't good for anything…”

Nina’s eye twitches at this and she sighs loudly, “You look like you need a nice warm bath and clean clothes…” she comments and the girl's eyes shine up at her with hope, “Would you mind having three little siblings to look after?” She smiles down at the obviously older girl in comparison with her other kids.

The girl beams at her, shivering slightly still, but fear and cold long gone, “I’d love to have a family again… I’m Lucia,” she says grabbing the elf’s hand and standing.

“I’m Ninada Ulvls, but you can call me however you prefer sweetheart,” Nina hugs the girl to her side as they walk off to Breezehome.

“Can… can I call you mum?” Lucia asks hopefully.

“Of course,” she tells the girl, giving her a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder, “Vyrthur,” she calls and the girl just notices the male behind them, “Can you get me a few clothes so she has something to change after the bath?” The elf nods and backtracks a few steps to Belethor, leaving them alone.

“Is he your bodyguard? I’ve seen him around for the last couple of months.”

“He’s my cousin, you can call him uncle, all the kids do.”

“How many siblings do I have now?”

The girl gets naked and into the tub while Nina pours the warm water and talks, “The oldest are K’arr, R’sien and Ri’irr, they are khajiits and over two hundred years old, the three of them. Then, Aventus is twelve, Blaise is eleven, and Sofie is ten.”

“Khajiits?” the girl asks with a laugh, “Are all of them adopted then?” She asks with curious eyes.

“Yes, the only man I ever loved and wanted to have kids with died a long time ago…”

“Sorry,” Lucia says sadly and Nina shrugs, helping washing her hair.

“Anyway, who is that mean uncle that threw you from your own house?” Nina asks softly but internally she’s seething in anger.

“Uncle Severio… he has a house here in the city where he always lived and aunty Nimriel was really nice until mum died. Then, uncle threw me away and left her and Gloth to tend the farm. I don’t understand why he couldn’t let me sleep in the house, is big enough…”

“You don’t have to worry about that anymore, I will take care of you now,” Nina smiles at the girl who perks up slightly.

“Thank you, mum.”

* * *

“I was joking about the children army you know…” Cael comments appearing suddenly on the room and startling the adults sitting around the fire.

Nina curses as she throws away another broken spoon, “Good night Cael,” she says standing to borrow another spoon and serving him too some of the Sunlight souffle’ she baked earlier.

“Thank you, dear,” he hums tasting the sweet on his mouth.

“Damn it all to Oblivion!” Nina curses as she breaks the chair’s arms support for sitting too hard on it, “What is wrong with me?!” She asks at the ceiling with exasperation.

“Those dragon souls are settling up nicely inside of you, I see,” Cael smiles, amused by her lack of control as she always used to be perfectly poised.

“What do you mean?” Nina questions with confusion, “They settled just fine after I absorbed them…”

“Yes, they accepted their defeat and settled down after you devoured them, but your body is just now adjusting to the increased strength they can bring you,” Cael points at her, humming after another bite of souffle, “And not only your physical strength will grow…”

“Uff, great, I’m becoming more like a damn dragon now,” Nina pouts.

“Exactly, my dear,” Cael nods and she sits up startled, “More strength, better vision, better sense of smell and hearing, stronger urges…”

“You don’t mean…”

“Sex drive and stamina of a dragon!” Cael says loudly with a mad grin, “You’ll be able to keep up with Sanguine! Ha ha ha! Can you imagine that? It’s madness!” He says shaking his head and snorts at his own pun, “Oh… and the hoarding issues, of course,” he finishes more seriously and Nina puts her head on her hands, groaning in dismay.

Cael moves a finger against his mouth, thinking, “Maybe that’s why you started hoarding so many kids lately?” He guesses and Nina twitches on her seat making him laugh, “Nailed it! Ha ha ha!”

Never a boring day around her, Vyrthur thinks with a snort as Nina frets over her body's future changes and Sheogorath laughs at her predicament.

######  3 First Seed, 4E 202, Snow Elf Palace 

Lucia settled nicely with her and the rest of the family. Vyrthur accompanied them to the palace and the other members of the family are set to arrive that day so all of them can meet the new member.

K’arr and R’sien arrive first, just before lunch, and they get a liking to the girl immediately. Cicero, Erandur, Calixto, Aventus, Blaise, and Sofie arrive later, in the evening. They bring someone else too, a redguard kid called Alesan.

They found him sick and feverish on the docks when they were walking to the stables to get a carriage. Erandur took the initiative of healing the kid while the other three kids talked to the sick child and gave him food, grabbing his arms as they started walking away again and bringing him along.

As the kids introduce each other and laugh, Nina knows she should stop herself, but how can she leave a sick kid to care for himself in a place like Dawnstar? She would have done the same, so she can’t complain to her kids for making the same decision she herself would have done in their position, “Welcome to the family Alesan,” she says with a smile and is happy to see all of her children playing together and smiling.

Nina enters the kid's room later that night, finding them sprawled all around the floor with blankets and pillows as K’arr reads them a book. She rests against the doorframe with a smile and listens to their awed reactions every time something happens in the story until K’arr finishes and looks up at her.

She walks further into the room then, sitting down between the two girls who smile as she kisses their cheeks, “I’m travelling to the Imperial City in a couple of days and was wondering… if, maybe… you lot want to tag along for some holidays?” she asks, clapping her hands over her ears as the kids immediately jump up in cheer.

Ri’irr and R’sien cover their sensitive ears with their paws and whine, very much like Nina.

“Mom you’re great!” The kids scream again and again as they jump around.

They stop screaming as she stands and calms them down with her hands, “Tomorrow we need to leave, pack your bags and make sure to put only the essentials clothes on it, my friend at Cyrodiil is a seamstress and all of you are getting a much needed new wardrobe,” she leaves them to their enthusiasm as the floodgates of screams open up once more.

“Contract?” K’arr whispers as he walks next to her and Nina nods.

“The emperor,” she whispers back, beaming at him, the khajiit eyes grow and a sardonic smile takes over his face.

“Always the overachiever, mother!” The khajiit laughs as he walks away for a late drink and maybe a sweetroll.

######  5 First Seed, 4E 202, Falkreath 

All members of the Dawnstar Sanctuary enter into the Falkreath Sanctuary. They are having a meeting today, to decide who will travel to Cyrodiil along with some of them.

They are welcomed by brothers and sisters in the kitchen and sit to have lunch together.

“I need some of you to accompany me in a special contract,” Nina explains taking a sip of the stew Nazir prepared for them, “I need to take care of something, so whoever you choose will travel with my kids, my cousin Vyrthur, and our brother Erandur until I arrive myself.”

“May we know what you will be doing, sister?” asks Astrid with curiosity.

It’s clear that all of them feel the same so she explains, “I’m the Dragonborn,” she says and all of them, not in the know, gasp in surprise. “I have to take care of that stupid dragon who’s resurrecting the others. Hopefully this time he won’t run away from me like a coward!” She hisses the last sentence and Calixto rubs her back soothingly.

She takes a deep breath, cooling down her anger. Controlling her emotions has become a difficult task lately. Everything gets under her skin as her dragon soul causes riots with her feelings, she didn’t feel like this since she left her teenage phase and she doesn’t like it one bit.

“Anyway,” she restarts gaining their attention once more, “I will arrive a couple of days later than the carriage if something delays me, otherwise, I should find the travelling group en route to Cyrodiil and we can take care of the contract after planning what to do when we arrive.”

“How dangerous is this contract going to be?” Asks Astrid with a pensive demeanour.

“Is going to be very cloak and dagger really, not too dangerous unless one of us does something reckless,” she shrugs as it should be pretty easy, sneak into the palace by the sewers and hide under the shadows, reach the Emperor’s room and kill him.

“And the target?” Nazir asks.

“Oh… well, you’re going to love this,” Nina smiles at them, pausing for the dramatics, “Titus Mede II.”

Many of them choke on the food and the other half laugh like their favourite holiday come earlier. They somewhat calm down a while later and start discussing with ardour, fighting to get a ticket into the ‘Kill the Emperor’ party.

In the end, it’s decided that Veezara and Babette will have the honour. Veezara because he has the most experience as the last Shadowscale trained since birth and Babette is the oldest member of the family and deserves the opportunity.

“Are the kids going to get into the plans too?” Veezara asks, already going through ideas inside his head.

“They will, but only on the first phase, they still need some training before I consider them full-fledged assassins,” Nina informs him with a considering look, “I’m quite happy that is you two who are coming along for this, I meant to ask for a while now if you would help with their training,” she says gaining some smiles from the assassins and joyful cheers from the kids, “Babette can teach them to move properly as her body is of the same build and you Veezara, you were raised into this life, you can teach them things that I haven't thought of as I’m old already and never really had proper training.”

“It would be my pleasure,” Babette tells her with a devious smile.

“Is an honour Listener, I will train the hatchlings to the best of my abilities,” Veezara says with a happy hiss.

* * *

They wake up early the next day and mount on the carriages, they make a stop passing the mountains three hours into their trip, as there is a flat expanse of land where Nina can summon Odahviing. Her shout echoed in the distance for a long moment while the kids got down and engulf her into a big hug, they still cling to her when Odahviing lands some meters away from her. Adults and kids alike look at the massive creature with wonder.

“Drem Yol Lok, Dovahkiin. Saraan uth - I await your command, as promised. Are you ready to see the world as only a dovah can?”

“Geh Odahviing,” she informs Babette that she’s in charge of the family until she’s back and with a last pat on the head to the kids and promises to behave from them, Nina mounts on the dragon and the children exclaim in awe as they fly away.

Flying over the sky of Skyrim is like nothing she’s ever experienced. The air hitting her face, the sun shining down the land and making it look even more beautiful than usual, she laughs like a madwoman for the longest of times and Odahviing accompanies her with an amused and loud growling laughter.

They fly for what seemed an eternity and no time at all. Nina lands hard on her feet as she dismounts and Odahviing looks up at the big old ruins in front of them, “That is Skuldafn, Alduin will be hiding beyond the portal, in Sovngarde. This is as far as I can take you. Krif voth ahkrin. I will look for your return, or Alduin's.”

“Have some faith,” Nina says with a snort, looking at him one last time with a smile and brandishing Sanguine’s Rose.

She walks as she summons her dremora, “Hey Johnny,” Nina greets the massive Valkynaz and gains a fighting position.

“Champion,” the dremora greets her back, “I smell weakness…” he growls taking his daedric greatsword at hand.

“Always smelling something you, should I start calling you Snuffles? Fus Ro Dah!” her shout unbalances the two draugr lords attacking in the distance and she prepares her fireballs and Johnny runs in their direction still chuckling from her bad joke, “Break their skulls!” She shouts to the dremora who catches the first one on the back as she fights them from the distance.

“Oblivion take you!” He howls as a dragon priest appears from behind and throws lightning at him.

“Liz Slen Nus!” She shouts at the priest before he attacks again and cracks the skull of the archer draugr with her own daedric sword, “Those priests are so annoying, destroy him while he's down Johnny,” Nina takes a breath and rubs her throat while looking the dremora impaling the priest’s skull with his big sword.

A roar rings in the distance and both of them look up as a dragon flies nearby.

Nina sighs, “This is going to be a damn long day…” she mumbles as she notices even more dragons approaching.

“Are you prepared for your dead?” The dremora taunts as he charges against the first landing dragon.

######  7 First seed, 4E 202, Skuldafn 

Nina kills the last dragon and falls to the floor as his soul settles along with her own, she’s sweaty and covered in blood, exhausted as she hasn’t felt in a long time, her control in tatters as the dragon rages free for a long while now.

The last foe, a dragon priest near the portal, awaits.

She stands on shaky legs, uses the rose staff once more and prepares Auriel’s bow as Valkynaz charges against the priest.

As the priest throws fire to the dremora, he receives little damage. She summons an atronach to keep occupied the priest’s and focuses on shooting arrows at the damn undead while Johnny keeps the priest engaged.

Her atronach is destroyed and she rolls out of the way of lightning and destroys the storm atronach with lots of fireballs once after another until it falls and explodes. She cries in pain as lightning reaches her and her legs give out.

Johnny keeps attacking the priest and she takes a minute to prepare once more for the fight. With no arrows left, she grabs in hand Dawnbreaker that Vyrthur lent to her for this special occasion and attacks the priest just as Johnny falls to his knees way too injured.

With Dragonhide cast, the attacks from the priest are but a soft tickle against her skin, she uses the thirty seconds of the alteration spell to the limit, slashing with the glowing sword at the un-dead and enjoying as it burns and shrieks in pain. The last slash, just as Dragonhide fades, makes the priest explode.

Only ashes, his mask and the staff remain from the priest as Nina falls back to the floor, breathing heavily and exhausted.

Her dragon roars inside her, pleasure fills her after defeating all the enemies two entire days later. She growls sitting up, her dragon is pleased but not entirely, she looks up to the dremora standing a few meters from her with the aid of his sword.

“Johnny,” she calls with a faint voice, rough after too many shouts used.

He gets closer slowly, grunting and gasping with effort. As he stands beside her, she grabs his leg and pulls. The dremora falls to the floor on his back, growling at her as she appears on his visual range.

A light-pink spell gets them rid of their armor in an instant and the dremora growls as Nina attacks his mouth with fervour, straddling his body on the floor. His massive cock stands proud in attention in no time and she raises over him, growling with slitted eyes and pinning his wandering arms as her body sinks against his dick.

She moans and growls as she rides him fast and hard. The dremora moves his hips, growling along with the elf above him and enjoying the sight of a wild and completely lost Dragonborn who rides him as if her life depended on it, still bleeding from many wounds here and there, the smell of blood and fire clinging to her like a cloak making her look like an incarnation of the Deadlands themselves.

It surprises him how strong she has become, no other mortal has ever been able to pin him down with so much ease before. As she suddenly reaches her climax and some sense returns to her mind, she falls on his chest, completely spent and soft moans falling from her lips.

The dremora rolls them and now he is the one pinning her to the floor. He hasn’t cum yet and inserts his cock inside her quivering core with a vengeance. As he pounds into her pussy with all of his remaining strength she moans in delight under him, he grabs her mounds giving them a squeeze before sucking one nipple in his mouth and playing with the other between his fingers.

Nina has another orgasm and howls it to the wind as he slows down, letting her rest for a while and licks her clean of the blood covering her body, tasting her like one would a delicious dessert as she writhes under him because of the oversensitivity.

When she regains her breath, he rolls her body and impales his cock into her warmth from behind, playing with her clitoris and nipples at the same time, licking and nipping at her neck as she throws back her head and grunts while grounding her body against his.

She comes for the third time and the clenching of her wet cunt droves the dremora to the edge, he fills her pussy until his seed is too much for it and starts to gush out of her, making lewd noises as he thrust a few more times into her tight quim.

As the last of his strength leaves his body, he disappears back to Oblivion and Nina falls to the floor on her back with a grunt.

* * *

“You didn’t really just fucked that bitch,” a female dremora complains near his head as the Valkynaz returns to the Deadlands.

He raises the arm that was covering his eyes and glares at the female, “Get the fuck out of my house, I’m not breeding your cunt,” he spits to the female that’s been accosting him for the last couple of weeks as he is well-liked by the Princes for his stories of the Dragonborn, he doesn’t want to know anything about little brats, he’s not made for that shit.

“I will tell everyone that you prefer a mortal than breeding me and we’ll see how much the Princes like you then,” she says spitefully and struts away.

He sighs and falls asleep, ignorant of the craziness taking over on the outside as the female tells literally everyone that crosses her path about who the Valkynaz just fucked.

Valkynaz is startled awake by a summoning, he opens his eyes to the sight of many of the Princes looking down at him.

“Well, fuck me, but it is true!” Sanguine drawls drunkenly as the dremora stands naked in front of him.

“And here I thought that Nina will pick me in the end. The betrayal!” Sheogorath shouts dramatically.

“Let him explain, I’m sure that not everything the gossip said was true…” Azura cuts in with her calm voice.

“Did you really breed the Dragonborn? By her own volition?” Nocturnal questions showing more interest than usual.

“Tell us all that happened between you and the Dragonborn on the last days, Valkynaz,” Mehrunes Dagon commands.

The dremora bows to his Lord and starts telling them about the fight against seven dragons, a dozen of dragon priests, and hundred of draugrs and draugr lords that took most of the past two days. Finalizing the tale with how he fucked the Dragonborn… in great detail.

Sheogorath sighs in relief, Sanguine laughs and offers the dremora a drink for the sexy story, Mehrunes looks disappointed and the rest of the Princes shrug and leave to do whatever they usually do.

* * *

Nina wakes up a couple of hours later, sweat and dust caked to her skin and the wetness between her thighs makes her feel dirty, she is in a desperate need of a bath…

“Strun Bah Qo!” She shouts to the sky and rain pours on her skin, cleansing her of two days worth of sweat and blood, among other things, she sighs refreshed and waits until the storm stops to get dressed.

The staff of the dragon priest is the answer to open the portal to Sovngarde, the blue portal opens and she jumps into it without much pomp. On the other side, a thick fog covers everything. As she walks into what looks to be a meadow, she can hear screams as Alduin takes leaps and eats the souls of fallen warriors lost in the fog.

After a while of walking straight, she finds a tall guy, an Atmoran maybe? He’s called Tsun and tests her with a fight before letting her walk over the whale bones connecting to a building on the other side. The Hall of Valor. Tsun… was some kind of Nordic god, right?

There are many warriors feasting inside the hall and Nina gets to see what the afterlife looks like. When Gormlaith, Hakon and Felldir say that ‘Shor’ allowed them to fight alongside her and against Alduin she gets a kick out of it.

“Thank you Dread Father!” She says between guffaws and gains stares from all around.

“Is she mad?” Gormlaith wonders aloud and many hums with consideration.

Nina holds herself up with a hand against the wall and calms down as she feels the warmth of the Night Mother’s embrace. The Nords afterlife is a realm ruled by Shor, also called Lorkhan, also called… Sithis. The hilarity of it all makes laugh bubble once more as they walk over the bones.

Once back in the meadow, they shout once, twice, thrice, before Alduin has the decency to show his scaly but and the fight starts. Her muscles scream as she strains them once more in a fight, her throat is already raw as the third Dragonrend passes it, blood covers her body as Alduin shocks as he dies. His soul rushing up to the sky instead of going to her and she turns her head up, looking at it.

“That was…”

“A mighty fight!” Gormlaith howls with cries of accomplishment accompanying her from the other two warriors.

And Tsun gets closer, congratulating them for their win and gifting her with a new shout, promising her free entry next time she visits Sovngarde. Not likely, she thinks in her head but knows better than to express her thoughts aloud. She merely smiles and says she’s ready to go back to Nirn and Tsun does his thing.

She appears on the top of monahven instead of Skuldafn and with a weary sigh, she walks to rest against Paarthurnax’s wall as many dragons shout around them.

“So, it is done. Alduin dilon. The Eldest is no more, he who came before all others, and has always been,” the old dragon says with sorrowful words.

“I know the feeling of a lost sibling... I’m sorry you have to go through it too, but Alduin brought this on himself…” Nina mumbles close to the dragon and she rests her heavy body against his snout as the dragon grumbles in melancholy.

The other dragons start to rise in the air and fly around the mountain top, “Alduin had flown far from the path of right action in his pahlok - the arrogance of his power. His doom was written when he claimed for himself the lordship that properly belongs to Bormahu - our father Akatosh,” he raises his head, looking at the flying dragons, “Many of the dovahhe are now scattered across Keizaal. Without Alduin's lordship, they may yet bow to the vahzen... rightness of my Thu'um,” and he flies up into the air too.

It surprises Nina how he can fly with his wings so heavily damage like that as she appreciates the sight of him in the sky, “But willing or no, they will hear it! Fare thee well, Dovahkiin!” And he’s lost with the rest of dragons flying in the distance.

She prepares to walk down to the monastery and rest when Odahviing lands near her, “Pruzah wundunne wah Wuth Gein. I wish the old one luck in his... quest. But I doubt many will wish to exchange Alduin's lordship for the tyranny of Paarthurnax's ‘Way of the Voice’. As for myself, you've proven your mastery twice over. Thuri, Dovahkiin. I gladly acknowledge the power of your Thu'um. Zu'u Odahviing. Call me when you have need, and I will come if I can.”

When Nina walks down, the four Tongues are already waiting for her. They take her inside, tending to her wounds and giving her some food.

“By the way,” she says drowsily as Arngeir sits on a chair with a book and the others loiter nearby, Borri puts another blanket over her and she smiles at him in thanks, “Jurgen says hi…” she says after a moment and falls asleep, missing the astonished looks from the old men in the room.


	9. The Imperial City

###### 10 First seed, 4E 202, Ivarstead

After rolling down the mountain in ethereal form, Nina reaches Ivarstead in record time but finds that there is no carriage or horse as there are no stables… She feels like screaming as she glared at the guard. She passed by quickly and didn’t really pay attention to the other times as she had Ri’irr with her, now she regrets that.

“This is a disgrace,” she pouts at the guard.

“It is what it is,” said guard shrugs and walks away.

She glares at his retreating back some more, thinking about how to reach Cyrodiil quickly, and gains a maniac smile when a thought crosses her mind.

“Od Ah Viing!” she calls and her shout echoes loudly all around, calling the attention from the few people who live in the village and the guards. They freak out as the red dragon lands near her.

“Drem Yol Lok, Dovahkiin. I wasn’t expecting your call so soon,” the dragon speaks and she smiles apologetically at him.

“Yeah, me neither. It’s just that I walked all the way down here and they don’t have stables on this village. Would you mind flying me to Cyrodiil?”

“Zu'u los ni aan key,” _I am not a horse_ , the dragon says offended, shaking his body and swelling while throwing smoke through his snout.

“I know, you’re an impressive dragon there’s no need to posture like that, you’re scaring the people,” she calms him as the guards look ready to attack with their swords at hand, “I need a favour, I’m not going to start thinking of you as a horse for this.”

A growl rumbled in his chest as he relaxed his posture and looked at her for a long moment, “Ni aan key.”

Nina shakes her head, “Niid.”

“Hi ziistmaas bo voth zu'u ruz,” _You may fly with me then_ , he says and lowers his head.

* * *

“Het mu los. Here we are, Dovahkiin,” Odahviing growls as they approach the tall wall of the Imperial City, “Kolos wa nu?” _Where to now?_

“Do you see the path under us?” She asks and he grunts, “Follow it until we reach the walls but don’t land, we don’t need the guards freaking out and starting a fight. Just get close to the floor and I’ll jump.”

As they get close to the city, Odahviing starts to descend and many of the people travelling on the path under them stop to watch. Odahviing does as she instructed and hovers for a few seconds near the door, “Feim Zii Gron!” she shouts and jumps, landing without any damage and startling the guards with her appearance as she still has the daedric armour she used for the fight against Alduin.

As the effects of the shout fade, the guards get closer with their weapons raised, “Estate your business, creature!” The only one brave enough, a Dunmer, says to her.

She looks at him, smiling under her helmet, “Creature?” she asks amused, “That’s offensive my old friend,” she says and enjoys his startled face for a moment before taking the helmet off, “How about you try again, Driyan?”

“Nina!” he shouts and crosses the distance in a breath, hugging her tightly, “Ju'rohn sedura,” _Welcome_ , he says with a bow once he releases her, surprising the other dunmer of the group of four soldiers, “Nireth has been worrying since your group arrived yesterday and you were missing.”

“I had to take care of a dragon that was annoying me,” she explains, putting her arm around his shoulders as they walk to the doors, “Did she told you about that ridiculous thing with the prophecy?”

“Yes, she explained you’re Dragonborn. Many soldiers who heard us talking at the bar are excited about meeting you,” he smiles at her pout. “How is life as Queen treating you, my friend?” he asks stopping at the doors, back on his position.

“Ugh, don’t make me remember. I still can’t find a pip about father’s murderer and it’s driving me insane!” She growls, kisses his cheek and puts the helmet back on, “Are you on guard duty here all day?”

“Yes, but I’ll make sure to visit you once I’ve finished.”

“Good, I’ll cook plenty then,” and with that, she walks away with a wave.

* * *

When she arrives at the shop, only Ruth is there to greet her, so she takes a bath and changes into a blue dress and flats. She walks from the Elven Gardens to the Market and grabs a Black Horse Courier on the way to the Arboretum, where the family is supposed to be taking a stroll.

She gets a good laugh reading the Black Horse until she reaches the Divine’s circle. Vyrthur is talking with a pair of Thalmor near Stendarr’s statue while the rest of her family is on the other side near Akatosh’s statue.

Lucia is the first to notice her and runs in her direction with extended arms, prompting the rest to follow suit. She stands in the middle of the pathway with five kids and Nireth hugging her as people walk around and send not so discreet curious looks at them, they fuss over her for hours, asking about everything and worrying about her wounds.

“Seriously, Nireth, it’s fine,” she said tiredly for the hundredth time, as they sit on a table eating lunch.

“I don’t see any wounds but that doesn’t mean you’re completely healed, Nina! I know how good you’re at hiding pain,” the dunmer says with a glare and Nina rolls her eyes.

“I’m the damn Dragonborn now Nireth, I heal so quickly that I barely even notice any wounds!” She says loudly and regrets it instantly as many patrons around the restaurant turn to look at her.

She puts the cutlery down with a deep breath, ignoring the half-eaten beef on her plate and the stares, standing from her place, “Kids, have you visited the Arcane University yet?” She asks and they perk up at the prospect of magic, “I need to do research at the University, if you need me for anything, I’ll be there,” she tells the others and walks away with the kids as they are the only ones who finished their meals.

“I want to learn some more restoration. Do you think I could buy some books about it mom?” Asks Lucia, who smiles as Nina nods at her.

“I will look for more books about destruction!” Aventus says motivated, “Festus told me that when I reached the adept level, he’ll instruct me!”

“That’s not fair!” Blaise complains, putting his hands in his pocket with a pout.

They enter the office and start looking around while Nina walks to the desk in the middle of the room, luckily for them, the Arch-Mage is there. “Hello serjo,” she says at the female dunmer who looks up with surprise at her from the papers the dunmer was perusing on the desk.

“Oh my, look who we have here!” The mer says with mirth and stands to give Nina a hug, “Is good to have you around serjo.”

“Come,” she tugs the elf along to the kids who are looking around with curiosity a few steps behind them, “Os ural ohn prokid yi muhrjul,” _I want you to meet my child(ren)_ , she startles her friend.

“Ku’ilm? B’vek! Asuhn adur hadik ohth?!” _What? By Vivek! They are all yours?!_ The dunmer looks at the kids with something akin to fear and Nina laughs beside her.

“Nei,” _Yes_ , she says proudly as the kids look back and forward at their exchange.

“What language is that mama?” Asks Sofie.

“It’s Dunmeri, sweetheart, it’s Ezith’s native tongue,” Nina explains.

“It’s pretty!” Lucia says and the dunmer smiles at the girl, “Erandur speaks it then?” She asks and Nina shrugs with a ‘probably’, “I’ll ask him to teach me if he knows!”

“Welcome to the Arcane University kids, I’m Ezith, the Arch-Mage,” the dunmer says and then turns to Nina with a sad smile, “I have to take care of things but you can go around like usual, kids or no kids don’t worry. I’ll send you a letter with my free time so we can go have a drink sometime, have fun children!” She waves at them as she leaves followed by her two apprentices.

“Okay, what do you want to do first?” Nina asks and all of them jump up with many options.

Fortunately, Erandur and Vyrthur arrive half an hour later and look after the kids at the Mystic Archives or accompany them to other places while Nina researches a couple of things she needs. She’ll put up teleporting pads in Skyrim no matter the cost, she’s tired sick of the damn wolves, dragons, bandits and necromancers that flutter the snowy land like pests.

* * *

That night, she cooks for an army and a half, the table is filled with food as everyone sits to eat and Driyan arrives just in time as they start.

“Is he another uncle?” Blaise asks, causing the mer to spit his ale and cough, with Nireth patting his back.

“Yes, he’s Nireth’s cousin, but he has a phobia of kids so don’t expect him to play with you as Vyrthur does,” Nina explains with a laugh and the complaints from the elf about his ‘phobia’ fly over her head.

“Kids are scary!” The mer exclaims loudly gaining more laughs all around.

They enjoy a meal with family, funny tales and much laughter long into the night. At eleven, the kids are sent to bed while the adults discuss more serious matters.

“... and I went to Sovngarde,” Nina finishes retelling them about the crypt where Odahviing left her, “the longest two days I’ve ever experienced!” she sighs and takes a gulp of her brandy.

“I thought that it was Taarie the sister who fancied dremoras,” Nireth comments tapping her chin and Nina throws her tankard at her head.

“I never heard about this before, you’re kinky, sister,” Veezara says hissing a laugh with Babette, Nireth and Driyan accompanying him.

“It disgusting…” Vyrthur mumbles, scrunching his nose.

“Don’t ditch it until you’ve tried it!” Nireth says playfully, “I used to think the same until one night I felt really lonely and…”

Driyan clears his throat pointedly with a glare to his cousin, “I don’t need to hear about that, my dear,” he says and Nireth gives him the middle finger.

“Anyway,” Nina continues, “I met Tsun, fought the guy and won, entered the Hall of Valor and met a bunch of dead people feasting there and went to kill Alduin with the Tongues who sent him forward in time with the Elder Scroll. He convulsed and shouted while he died, his bones literally exploding out of him as his soul flew away to the sky. It was all very quickly and anti-climatic for all the time the bastard made me wait,” she sighs and drinks some more, “Although… I got a nice laugh out of meeting the dead when they talked about Shor,” she shakes her head remembering the scene, “The still have Shor confused with Akatosh!” and she booms a laugh.

“Dread Father give me patience,” Veezara facepalms comically.

“Nords,” Babette grunts with an eye roll, “How can they be so stupid after all this time?”

“Well, the Companions of Whiterun still call for Shor all the time,” Vyrthur adds with an amused smile, “But it’s quite sad that they haven’t learned yet the difference between Auriel and Lorkhan,” he snorts.

“For Sithis… I had the displeasure to meeting them,” Veezara says, “What an obnoxious bunch…”

“Are they really that bad…?” Driyan mumbles and goes ignored.

“I know, I’ve got to meet some of them in my visits to Whiterun,” Nina sighs, “I feel for you brother.”

“Honor this, honor that…” Babette spits, “Makes me want to bite them…”

“I remember the twins though, I’d tap that, brains or no brains…” Nireth wiggles her eyebrows at Nina who hums and gets lost in her thoughts.

###### 12 First seed, 4E 202, Imperial City

Nina rereads the letter for Cicero, checking that everything is where it should one last time and spelling it shut to everyone but him. Time to contact a courier.

She finds a guy willing to take the package to Skyrim soon enough in the Market District, good thing some things don’t change she thinks, smiling at the back of the retreating messenger.

Making her way to the inn, she enters and locates Ezith easily, sitting in the table alongside her friend.

“Ezith,” she says, nodding at the other woman who sips a cup of tea.

“Nina,” the Dunmer greets her back, lowering the steaming mug.

“Are you and Neloth still fighting? I saw nor hair or hide from him yesterday…” Nina says, gaining a frown from the other female.

“He is… researching,” she says with distaste, “In Solstheim.”

“Ah…” Ezith was always meticulous, tidy and spruce while her twin, Neloth, is as opposed to her as possible with his research messed up and lying everywhere, forgoing baths and food in favour of focussing on his interest of the moment. “Well, I’m doing research of my own,” she comments gaining the interest of the dunmer, “Teleportation pads.”

“Humm, is that why you left the Archives late yesterday?” Ezith wonders.

“If you travelled Skyrim just once, you’ll know why I want to install them. It’s a wonder there are any farmers alive with the amounts of wildlife roaming every damn nook of that province,” she says and bits down on a sweetroll.

“I don’t really know about those, but I may have something to help you meanwhile,” the dunmer says and proceeds to rummage around her pouch.

As Ezith passes a spellbook to her, she can’t believe she’s so lucky, “Oh my god. You are the best!” Nina heard about the levitation spells before, of course, but finding one? Nireth and Driyan aren’t mages and Ezith lived in Cyrodiil for ages, so getting a spell developed and used almost exclusively in Morrowind is hard. “How?” she asks perplexed.

Not even when she stayed at Telvannis could she get ahold of one as the parents of Neloth and Ezith where the only ones with the power and they didn’t like her much, they mostly just tolerated her presence.

“Neloth visited for a month or so before settling in Solstheim, he left many things that he wouldn’t have space for there.”

Nina laughs openly, “It may not be a teleporter construction instructions, but next time a dragon tells me anything about envying their flying I’ll rub their scaly mugs with this spell!”

“Happy to be of assistance,” the dunmer says laughing softly.

“Hassiri knows this smell,” a khajiit says close to Nina, sniffing the air, “It’s changed but basically the same,” he mumbled getting closer to the table and looking down at the two elves having tea.

Hassiri, along with Ra’jiradh and Urjabhi are the owners of The Black Horse Courier and she always loved the newspaper as it gives her a good laugh. They know how to tell the truth and write the thing in such a way that even if it’s insulting many people are just too dull to notice.

“Hello to you too Hassiri,” Nina says politely, “I read the Black Horse yesterday and it was as good as usual,” she smiles at the khajiit who returns it.

“Ninada Ulvls, is there any true on the rumours about dragons and you, in particular, being one?” He asks as his tail moves smoothly from side to side behind him.

“Is anything I say going to be published on the Black Horse?” she questions back with a considering finger tapping her cheek.

“If you don’t mind, of course, Hassiri will love to be the one to get this news in the paper!” The khajiit purrs and sits on the table when Nina offers him a chair.

“I’ll leave you to it then, Divines knows how things get messy when I get lost for a couple of hours. See you later Nina, Hassiri,” the Arch-Mage nods at them and leaves the inn.

“Have you known the Arch-Mage for long?” Hassiri asks.

“We met almost five hundred years ago when I was visiting the Telvanni isles, the twins were young then and became good friends of mine as I was amenable to show them spells from other parts of the world they’ve never seen before.”

The khajiit hums, taking notes on a notebook, “Ok, how about we start with a little introduction about you? Tell me the story of Ninada Ulvls, female Ice Elf, over a thousand years old and…?”

* * *

Nina comes down from the room Hassiri rented for the interview hours later, with a relieved sigh as that was over and finds most of the family already there for lunch.

“Everything alright, sister?” Asks Veezara with a glare at the grinning khajiit waving away at her.

“Just an interview for the newspaper, the khajiit owners are good friends and I couldn’t say no,” she tells them sitting at the table and listening to the kids as they comment on the things they did that morning at the university.

“Veezara, Erandur,” she calls for their attention as the others find themselves occupied in conversations, “I need you to search these places and salvage anything of value from them,” she says passing them little pieces of paper with addresses and passwords, “Be careful and remember that you need to be back here in time.”

They nod, putting the papers away on the bags they prepared the night before as she ordered and already knowing the time span they have to do this job. They will go visit the old Sanctuaries while Babette stays and forms the plan with Nina for the assassination of the Emperor the night of the twenty-third. As he’s scheduled to leave the city the day after for political reasons, the Penitus Oculatus will expect any possible attacks to take place out of the security of the Palace and they will never think it possible for the Brotherhood to kill the Emperor in his own bed.

Bruma and Cheydinhal may have the answers she needs, or maybe Calixto finds something in the one at Wayrest, even K’arr had to travel to one in Elsweyr.

Also, thanks to Cicero’s journals, they have the address of the Shadowscales training facility in Black Marsh. She convinced the argonian Deeps-In-His-Cups to look around the place when they met and she paid the 750 septims for that stupid hat Sanguine dared him to fetch, promising him free drinks for life if he did that ‘little’ favour for her. He was happier than she’s ever seen an argonian get before.

After lunch, Veezara and Erandur leave, Nireth and Ruth go back to the shop while Nina and the kids go to the Arcane University once more; Vyrthur, on the other hand, wants to visit the temple and pray. It’s a pity Babette sleeps during the day, Nina knows the little vampire would love to visit the Lustratorium.

* * *

While the kids investigate about enchantments because they want to enchant their weapons in the Chironasium later, Nina continues her investigation about teleporting pads, changing the section of the Archives she’s looking at as the first one didn’t reveal anything helpful.

She gets roused out of her concentration on the books she’s reading when a disturbance reaches her ears from the outside, where she can see her children standing beyond the door. Closing the door and spelling it to fly away to its place on the shelf, she walks out and finds Aventus shielding from another mage’s fire and laughing.

“You’re pathetic. Is this how you plan to impress my sister? With lame flames?” Blaise asks with malice as the other imperial mage sweats with exertion at the prolonged use of the spell, gritting his teeth as his magicka depletes and breathing heavily while Aventus lowers his hand with just a soft sigh as a sign of any strain.

“What is going on?” Nina whispers in Sofie’s ear, making the little girl jump in surprise.

“That guy had Lucia cornered and wanted to force her to kiss him but Alesan punched him before he could do anything!” Sofie answers back with fury shining in her eyes.

Nina notices Alesan hugging a silently crying Lucia to the side, she didn’t notice them before as he’s covering her with his body. He’s the eldest of her adopted kids now with thirteen and takes his role as the protective older brother very seriously.

As the young mage pants breathless and looks back hopefully at two other mages behind him, he gets a shock of some sparks hitting his side and grunts as his body sways destabilized.

“I will kill you for that brat!” He growls and charges more flames in his palms surprisingly quickly.

Nina moves Blaise back to them with telekinesis as Aventus disappears, moving fast like a shadow, dodging the fire and edging closer to the mage as his right arm casts lesser custody and the left one grasps his elven dagger.

When the mage stops his spell this time, he barely moves, Aventus holds his sharp dagger against his jugular, close enough for the mage to feel the skin prickling with goosebumps with its cold touch.

“Touch one of my siblings again and I’ll make sure your body is never found,” Aventus whispers, moving his blade softly against the skin and cutting it as he steps away, the mage falling to his knees in a puddle of his own piss.

“What is the meaning of this?!” The Arch-Mage’s loud voice resounds on the gallery.

“This pathetic excuse of a mage,” Nina sneers in the direction of the young Imperial who looks horrified up at his superior, “Tried to force his advances on my daughter, Arch-Mage,” she explains and the dunmer looks at the young man with disgust.

“N-no, no! They attacked me! I d-did n-nothing and that guy p-punched me!” he says pointing to Alesan who only glares back at him, still hugging Lucia, “And he-e cut me!” the mage says pointing at Aventus with one hand and his wound with the other.

“You lier!” Aventus growls raising a hand with a spell about to shoot something from it only to get stopped by Nina.

“Enough,” she says softly and he relaxes his stance immediately, stepping back with the rest of his siblings.

“Veren,” the Arch-Mage calls and one of the two mages standing back shots to attention.

“Yes Arch-Mage?”

“What really happened here?” the dunmer questions with a cold glare.

“The girl was asking Varas and myself about restoration magic, as she’s learning about it herself, when our little brother came. He got her talking and in a moment, when we were distracted talking with the other kids, he seemed to have cornered her away and her brother punched Caler. He started attacking then and the situation devolving into what you found here just a moment ago.”

“You traitor!” Caler shouts with flames dancing on his hands and ready to attack once more but an ice spike shots to the middle of his feet and Caler stumbles as he moves startled by the magic, falling to the floor and meeting the eyes of Aventus and the sight of frost magic leaving his palm.

“You’re lucky I feel some respect for your brothers for telling the truth or that would have ended between your eyes for what you tried to do to my sister,” Aventus says and his cold mask cracks as Lucia hugs him.

Ezith sighs, “I warned you many times Caler,” the Arch-Mage tells to the little mage frostily, “Control your temperament or you will be expelled. Didn’t I?”

“Yes, Arch-Mage,” Caler says with tight fists and a frown, looking up at the dunmer and waiting for the worst.

“And why,” she hisses lowly, “Pray tell,” she practically spits, “Did you go and attack a girl? Or, a mage that is superior in skills to yours?!” She shouts making him wince, “If that weren’t bad enough, they’re the children of that elf ever there!” She said pointing to Nina, “She’s a Master Wizard associated with our guild for the last three hundred years and could have you out of here just because you looked at one of her kids bad, much less for attacking her daughter,” the dunmer explains with cold words and wanting to impress into the boy the gravity of his actions.

Caler opens his eyes wide in astonishment and shivers in terror for his future. If he was expelled for starting a fight, he could go back to the guild in time. But after attacking someone so important for the Mages Guild? Out of question!

“Add to that, that I am also the Snow Elf Queen and the Dragonborn,” Nina says with maliciousness, enjoying the rivers of sweat running down the mage’s body, “So you can’t exchange the Guild for, say, the Winterhold College as Savos Aren is a good friend of mine and I could make your life miserable anywhere in the entire province.”

“She could practically be the Arch-Mage, if she wished, but denied the post… luckily for me,” Ezith comments in a drawl and Caler hunches down with his head on his hands, feeling faint.

“But you’re lucky that I’m merciful…” Nina whispers and it takes a moment for the kid to grasp the meaning of her words, looking up in a flash when he does.

“You are?” Ezith wonders aloud with amusement.

“Of course,” Nina says with a too sugary smile as she focuses on the boy on the floor, “I will give you one last chance to learn to behave, like Ezith suggested you do, but make a single mistake and I will make sure you live to regret it,” she says ominously, “And if you ever try to force yourself on another again…” she pauses for a few seconds and stares at the young man as he gulped down, “I will arrange a meeting between you and Odahviing… my dragon friend,” she enjoys every second as the little mage’s pupils dilate in fear while he whines and falls on a dead faint.

Veren and Varas hoist their little brother up, with disgust as his clothes are soaked in his own piss, and try to take him away, catching the low conversation between the elves as they slowly move him around.

“You wouldn’t really feed him to that dragon…?” Ezith states slash asks with doubt.

“Of course not,” Nina answers patting the Dunmer’s arm, “Odahviing thinks mages are too bland for his tastes, he prefers sabre cats,” the Arch-Mage sighs but the falmer continues with a freezing statement, “But you know how I feel about people who try to force themselves upon others, if anyone I know ever does that, they won’t need to fear a dragon, I can do worse with a dagger and make it last until a feel satisfied with their screams of regret for their actions. As I did with that asshole who killed my twin. He squealed like a pig for days, before I felt like killing the bastard...”

“Yeah, I remember,” Ezith laughs, “Neloth got sick after we found you on that shack,” but she gets serious suddenly, “And before that day I never thought someone could live through so many wounds and lacking so many body parts or organs…” Ezith says looking green.

“Can I learn to do that too?” Aventus asks excitedly.

“Cicero, I think, would be a better teacher for that than me,” Ninada says with a sad smile to the kid.

“Yay! When we are back I’ll ask brother Cicero to teach me.”

“You won't do that without me!” Blaise jumps at Aventus with a frown, “You already took Festus all to yourself!”

Sofie pouts, “It isn’t fair, who is going to be my teacher?!”

“You can always ask Babette to teach you about poisons,” Nina comments as the group walk by the frozen trio of siblings, “and when you’re older, Gabriella can teach you how to deal with the opposite sex, that’s her expertise.”

“What is your expertise mum?” Lucia asks.

“I like the school of Illusion. The last thing they see is what they most fear...”

“Can I learn that too?”

“Of course sweety, anything you want.”

“What about me?” Alesan asks.

“Well, you like swords don’t you?” She asks and he hums affirmatively, “You can always ask Nazir as he’s also a redguard and he can teach you their ‘Sword Dance’, Veezara has a nice ‘Shadow Blade’ technique and I know an obscure Dwemer skill with needles that you can learn after you’ve got a nice grasp on the essentials…”

###### 16 First seed, 4E 202, Imperial City

On a dark corner, where the oldest books are stocked, Nina finds what she’s been searching for in the past several days. Surrounded by old and outdated history books and spell tomes, are a couple of books on the theory behind teleport pads and their ritual of construction. She cries in joy after looking over the books at a fast pace and takes the lot with her to a table to sit and read in more detail.

The theory of the teleports is old and haven’t been improved in many millennia. The books she has in her hands were written by Chimers. Yeah, that old. And it’s a miracle they survived this long. The Ald Chimeris language was mostly based on the old Aldmeris and Ayleidoon languages which she knows more, thank the gods, or she would have a harder time understanding all that mess.

With the help of a handy spell, she passes the writing from the old books to new ones and has her own personal copy to take back home, so she can construct the teleporters once she travels back to Skyrim.

She walks out of the university that evening alone, as the kids wanted to wander the city. She arrives at the Inn with the idea of getting some food and finds Vyrthur with a Thalmor sitting on a corner.

“Night boys,” she acknowledges them, sitting on a chair, “I don’t think I had the pleasure of meeting you,” she says looking at the altmer.

“Commander Lillandle, this is my cousin,” Vyrthur introduces her with a tankard at hand, “Queen Ninada Ulvls.”

“Enchanted,” the altmer says grabbing her offered hand and kissing the back of it.

“Aren’t you a charmer,” she says to the elf with a smile and drinks from the goblet the innkeeper leaves for her at the table.

“You look tired,” Vyrthur comments after she sighs.

“I’ve been holing up on the Archives at the Guild for the last few days but I’ve finally found the book I was looking for, so no more Archives for me, thank the gods,” she says with satisfaction.

“I’m curious…” says the Thalmor as the conversation finishes, “The Black Horse Courier…” he mentions with doubt, “Is there any truth on their last publication?”

“Oh, right,” Nina says sitting up straighter and rummaging through her pouch until she finds the rose staff and summons the Valkynaz, “Hey Johnny!” She greets and looks amused at the tankard in his hand, “How are things back there?”

“I was enjoying a party at Sanguine’s until you summoned me…” he says grumpily and sits down taking a chair from the neighbouring table where the patrons look shakily at their group, he looks around and gulps down the alcohol, “Why have you summoned me?”

“I had an interview a few days ago, I need you to take some copies back as I mentioned the Princes and they’re sure to get some good laughs out of the whole thing… Well, except for Molag...” she stands after ordering more bottles of mead and says quickly, “Be right back.”

She’s gone only some minutes and returns with many copies of The Black Horse on her hand, which she passes to Johnny, keeping only one to read. The dremora and the elf read the newspaper while the Thalmor drinks with a mask of calm that hides his worry and Vyrthur shake his head at the usual weirdness of his cousin.

“Oh my god!” Nina cries and laughs, “... the chosen of Akatosh/Alkosh/Auriel is none-other than a female who likes to frolic with the Princes on a steady basis. What will daddy Akatosh/Alkosh/Auriel think of that? Us, simple mortals, may never know. Ha ha ha! I love that khajiit,” Nina says taking a sip of her drink and continues reading, “I questioned myself the same, many times…”

“... and she professes to have squeezed the Prince Molag Balls like oranges until the Daedra promised to stop trying to dominate/rape her, calling the action ‘The Molag’s Treatment’ … Ha ha ha! I remember that one! I never thought Prince Bal could look so gloom!” The dremora laughs, wiping a fake tear and slapping his belly over his armour. “Yes, I can see Lord Bal fury raising after reading that.”

“Oh sweet skooma, I was so high when I did that...” she says smiling awkwardly.

“…and a little heads up for those who like to wonder; the talk about the Princes changing appearance and gender at will… is TRUE! After much persuasion from part of this khajiit, she parted with the information that she bedded ‘some’ of them on one ‘very crazy night with Sanguine and alcohol’ Ha ha ha! Why doesn’t that surprise me…” the Valkynaz comments shaking his head.

“You… No… This is too much,” Vyrthur says and grabs a mug drinking all of it in one go, rubbing his eyes with one hand and grumbling under his breath.

“Hmm, I was high that time too…” Nina says with a shameless shrug, “Did he at least put my warning at the end?” She wonders looking around the quite long edition of the paper.

“ Let some of my adventures be of warning to the kiddies out there: never get high with Daedra, much less Sanguine, if you don’t want to do stupid things and wake up on opposite coast of Tamriel with people accusing you of absurd deeds on your way back home… like that time he got me engaged to a hagraven and half Skyrim knew before I did… or that other time when he kidnapped me from the temple of Auriel in Alinor, during the middle of the ‘dreadful’ ceremony as he put it, and we ended up on the Deadlands where Mehrunes was hosting a wild orgy with half of Oblivion in it. He certainly put it,” the Thalmor says, reading over her shoulder with a finger over the part of the paper with the bit he was reading plastered on it.

“He’s still my favourite Prince,” Nina says and Johnny snorts.

“Of course he is, more now that you became a horny dragon,” he says with a leer.

“It was one time!” She complains with an eye roll.

“And Sanguine made me retell every second of it, in detail, in front of all of them,” he says getting a gasp from her, “Now he’s enthusiastic about trying out your new stamina himself.”

“Shit, I’m so dead,” Nina grunts as her head lands on the table, “Why did you tell them?” She asks pitifully.

“A jealous bitch got in my house and found me passed out after your sudden bout of horniness. As I won’t breed her, she went everywhere with the gossip and made up lies. My Lord was already getting ready to claim your soul when you had my offspring,” he says and shudders, “Not likely,” he grunts moodily.

“Are you kidding me?” Nina question looking owlishly at him, “Wait…” she turns her head over her arms, thinking, “Is that even possible?” She asks in a whisper and wide eyes.

“Breeding with your kind?” The dremora asks and she nods under the scrutiny of the other two males on the table, “Certainly.”

The three elves gasps, all with a different kind of bewilderment.

“I didn’t know that…” the female says with a gulp, “I’m so fucking lucky…”

Lillandle and Vyrthur facepalm, “You just assumed,” Johnny comments unsurprised and Nina slaps his shoulder.

“In my entire seventeen hundred years of life, I've never heard about such a thing being possible!” She whispers furiously, “Good thing I take the potion every month…” she sighs angrily, gulps down the rest of her drink and leaves the inn gritting her teeth, “I will give Sanguine poisoned ale for never warning me of this!” She whispered to herself as she walks to Nireth’s house.

* * *

“Seven Black Soul Gems, three meters of dried and powdered Bloodgrass, a hundred grams of finely powdered Cinnabar Polypore Red Cap, one powdered seed of Coda Flower, a hundred grams of Trama Root, fifty grams of Void Salts. Plus the granite surface with the carved runes already prepared, which must sit unmolested for thirteen hours before the ritual is to be cast on it when the potion is ready to be infused, on a pre-arranged surface where it will stay permanently afterwards. All these preparations must be ready before the ritual to create a teleportation pad commences, as once it has begun, the granite will warm up because of the magic running through it and it will explode unless the potion is sprayed over the stone with haste,” Nina rests her back against the cushioned chair with a sigh as she finishes reading the necessary ingredients for the creation of one teleporter, after she spent hours translating the Ald Chimeris text to modern Tamrielic.

“How, in Auriel’s name, am I going to find seeds of Coda Flowers?!” She throws a tantrum in the intimacy of her room, tearing more of her hair from her head on the course of it, “Those things got burned by the damn explosion of the volcano!” She growls falling to her bed.

“Not that collecting Trama Root will be any easier… stupid ash-covered waste.”

She sits up, re-reading the ingredients list as she grabs it from the desk, “Seven soul gems per teleporter… Black soul gems…” she sighs again, looking out the window and noticing the dark of night already covering the sky, “Damn it all, I haven’t cooked yet and the kids will arrive any moment now!” She ran downstairs and starts preparing dinner, forgetting for a moment about her worries.

Some hours later, when the kids arrive, she wakes up Erandur and Veezara to eat dinner as they were having a nap after the travel back to the city.

They sit at the table and enjoy the familiar atmosphere as they eat and joke around. As the adults move around serving dessert and spreading bowls for it, someone knocks at the door and Alesan attends.

“Mom! You’ve got a letter!” he says entering the living and passing the envelope.

Nina passes the knife to Nireth to cut the crostatas and opens the letter, standing to the side of the room as she reads.

Her countenance becomes chilled as she crumbles the paper on a fist and the other hand shocks the wall as her fist hits and breaks the stone, her magical affinity for ice showing as her control slips and all around her things freeze.

“Nina?” Her friend calls with a worried face from the table where everyone has fallen silent at the display, “What happened?”

“Some kind of cultist group attacked the palace,” her voice runs cold.

“Is everyone alright?”

“Fandanyis and Kidalor have minor injuries as they protected everyone, but otherwise, they’re all fine…”

“Then why are you so mad?”

“Taarie also sent the note she found on one of the bodies,” she says and passes the note to her, walking out of the room without another word.

“Shit,” Nireth mumbles as she reads the crumpled note, getting questions from everyone, “They are the ones responsible for the late King’s death!”

###### 23 First seed, 4E 202, Imperial City

Odahviing flies in the distance as Nina looks up to the sky, still breathing heavily after fighting the dragon for hours. When the creatures and necromancers from many places around the Imperial City weren’t enough to sate her need for violence, she called him and they fought, you don’t need many excuses to instigate a fight with a dragon.

“You must really be into pain to fight a dragon willingly like that,” Lillandle says as his head appears in Nina’s vision.

“What are you doing here?” She asks with a raspy voice from using her thu’um.

“Someone had to make sure that dragon wasn’t about to attack the city,” he shrugs as if the idea of fighting a dragon is something that crosses his mind all the time.

Nina laughs, imagining them fighting, “You realize that you’re talking about fighting the dragon that used to be Alduin’s right-hand, right?” she asks.

The altmer looks down at her with a raised eyebrow, “Is he really that good?”

“The first time we fought we were evenly matched, I’m stronger now only because I fully assimilated the souls I devoured from other dragons,” she says, sitting up and drinking some water, clearing her throat.

“Does it hurt?” the mer asks.

“Not really, is more like… the itch from a cold. Just annoying.”

“Those shouts were...impressive.”

Nina laughs softly then, “Flattery will get you everywhere,” she says with a mischievous smile on her face, “Why are you really here, Commander?”

“You took one of my men when you killed that group of necromancers back in the cave.”

“Am I to be interrogated then?” she takes a guess and he nods.

“I’m really sorry about this…” but he’s cut short as he falls to the floor and Nina sits on top of him in a flash, holding him down with seemingly no force at all.

“I’m afraid that, as much as I like the idea, I can’t go on a date with you Lillandle. I’m already late to meet the family as it is…”

“Don’t do this,” he pleads weakly, “It will be worse if you resist.”

“You are in no position to tell me that, my dear Commander,” she says with a smile as she lowers her head near him, “You’re lucky and at the same time unlucky, that I have things to take care of. Otherwise, we could have had a lot of fun together,” she rubs her body down over his, feeling his hardness as it pokes her burning core and she purrs. “I’m sorry,” she said in a whisper, kissing him, “but duty calls.”

She sits up as the effects of the paralyzing spell take effect, putting her index fingers on his temples, she shot a bolt of strong lightning through them that renders him unconscious instantly. The technique, a secret Thalmor interrogation method, which also has the added effect of making the subject forget several hours before the technique has been applied. He won’t remember this encounter unless they cross paths again and she plans to find him after her businesses with the Emperor are finished…

* * *

Nina opens the window to the sitting room in Nireth’s house, moving silently and covered by the shadows of the night, finding Erandur on his room preparing for their job.

“Brother,” she says softly, enjoying and laughing softly as he turns around with a startled gasp.

“Where have you been?” He asks loudly and she puts a finger over his mouth shushing him, “You look terrible, Listener.”

“I needed to blow off some steam,” she shrugs, “and I did. Is everyone ready for tonight?”

“Yes, we were worried that you were getting late…”

“I’ll go and prepare, make sure everyone is at the Arboretum by ten as we planned,” she commands him and leaves after getting an affirmative answer.

She takes a quick bath, puts on her Brotherhood armour and breaks into the Palace’s basement, activating the giant hourglass. Five minutes to ten, she appears from the shadows and directly in front of the other members of the family.

“Are we all ready?” she whispers with seriousness, content as the kids don’t react with over-enthusiasm and behave as is expected of them in this line of work. They all nod and she motions for them to follow.

She uncovers the sewer entrance, opens the lid and jumps down into the darkness. As she waits for all of them to reach the floor, she turns to Veezara, “Have they learned the spell you got at the Sanctuary?”

“Yes, Listener.”

Nina nods and hums as the lid makes a soft clicking noise when Erandur closes it. He stands on the bottom of the sewers along with them in no time.

“All of you know what you need to do. Cast the Void Gazer and let's get going,” without preamble, the eight move as one, casting the spell that will grant them night-vision, “Aventus, Blaise, Sofie,” they nod and grab their weapons in hand, preparing for anything they might encounter, “Be ready, there are many vermin down here, make your family proud.”

The three kids take the lead, slowly but determined, they advance knowing that if anything beyond their control appears, they will have back up.

Blaise kills the first rat they cross, with Lucia making a disgusted noise at the sight of the animal. Aventus makes a dash for the second but the arrow from Sofie reaches the pest first, the boy pouted at her and they keep advancing.

The adults, plus Alesan and Lucia watch attentively as the kids move around the following room until they find a way to open the door for the next room. There is always some kind of puzzle they have to resolve for their training back at the Sanctuary too, so they find the answer quickly.

Aventus gets to kill the next rat but gets startled by the Mud crab that appears suddenly behind him. The crab doesn’t live much as an arrow between its eyes kills it.

“That was a nice shot,” Veezara whispers with surprise.

“Cicero may sound mad most of the time, but he’s a damn good marksman,” Erandur comments and gets a considering hum from the argonian.

They keep advancing, having to get a bit wet, disgustingly enough, and more rats and crabs die on the way until they reach a room with skeletons lying about and the adults stiffen smelling the danger.

“Kids,” Nina whispers loud enough for them to hear and immediately back off, noticing the scary and serious looks on their faces, “Laas Yah Nir,” she uses her shout and instantly detects the vampire waiting in the other room, “Babette, one of yours,” she says and the girl smiles devilishly before disappearing from sight.

The only sign of anything happening in the adjacent room is the movements of shadows, a lowly gurgling sound and silence. As Nina nods they advance, walking into the room and finding Babbete cleaning a dagger on the clothes of the vampire under her. “Let’s go,” she said standing with an innocent smile as she finishes and the kids go back to leading the group.

The next rooms have only some broken boxes, they relax as they keep moving forward until they reach another closed door. The first challenge of the night, for the kids, presents itself in the form of a ghost. But they work it out surprisingly well with Sofie shooting arrows from a distance, Aventus with a lesser custody ready to protect them from any attacks, and Blaise keeping it at bay with his flames.

They keep going, finding more rats, crabs and a couple of vampires. When they cross another door, the kids have to fight some skeletons, but they manage in the end with some instructions from the adults. They meet their first zombie when they have to find a way around a blocked door.

“There aren’t any of those back at home…” Lucia comments.

“Aren’t draugrs the same?” Alesan asks.

“Draugrs can talk, zombies are even more stupid than those,” Babette tells them with a snicker.

As they reach a big room with many skeletons, Veezara helps the kids with them. They walk into a cavern system with zombies and ghost then, where the foundations of the palace can be appreciated. Another room, another ghost and as they get into another cavern, they spend almost an hour getting rid of all the enemies down there, coming out to a big chamber.

“Is this is?” Sofie asks, her arms trembling after so much effort.

“Almost there,” Nina comments unsheathing her daggers, “Fall back and rest,” she commands and they do just that, completely spent. The adults take down the skeletons and rats ahead, passing over a door with a tree on it.

“That almost looks like the stone of the palace back home,” Lucia says, looking back at it.

“Ayleid constructions. Cyrodiil was under their rule for many years before the races of men got together and fought against their slavers,” Nina explains, “There are many ruins from their old civilization.”

“What happened to them then?” Alesan asks.

“The men killed them all. Ayleids are only one of the many entirely wiped out races from our world,” she stops as they reach a room with a big statue ahead, which is elevated and stairs lead down to a secret door, “This is it,” she nods to Veezara and Babette who prepare to go into the palace while Erandur will remain to look after the kids and heal the small cuts and aches they have after the long three hours of fighting their way down here.

“Kill well brother, sisters,” Erandur says as the three assassins prepare to go thru the door.

“We will appear on the guards quarters, after that we have to go up five floors until we reach the Emperor’s quarters at the top, keep to the shadows and try to avoid exposure until then.”

Both Babette and Veezara nod in understanding, following after her in silence. As they arrive at the quarters, many soldiers are sleeping and they get out without detection. They cast invisibility and move close to the darker parts of the room, walking around soldiers patrolling as they advance down the hall.

The Elder Scrolls Library is deserted and has become a private royal library, with only a few Moth Monks walking around with blindfolds covering their eyes. The Moth Monks quarters is easy to pass through and they soon are on the Battlemages floor.

The Battlemages are better equipped to deal with the likes of them, but even then, their stealth abilities are beyond what mere soldiers of the Empire can dream to reach or even detect. As they cross to the last level of the tower and avoid the mage’s tramps, they find heavy security waiting for them, but they are ready for this and unsheathing their weapons they proceed to take them out one by one from the cover of darkness.

As the last Penitus Oculatus falls to the floor with a muffled sound of leather against stone, all three assassins stand up in attention for any unexpected assault that never comes.

Nina sighs and starts moving, checking out the bodies until they find the key for the door.

As the door opens, they walk into a lavish room, in the middle of which sleeps the Emperor who opens his eyes just as they encroach around him.

He sits up, gasping and looking shocked, “The Dark Brotherhood?”

“Good night, Titus Mede II,” Nina says standing straight in from of him at the end of the bed.

“This room should be beyond your abilities to reach, even for the likes of you!” he exclaims astonished.

“Nothing is off-limits for us if the Night Mother and the Dread Father wish for it to be so,” she says, nodding to the two shadows behind her, “Do it.”

“Can I get a last request before I am to meet my end?”

The two assassins stop, waiting for their superior to answer, “I’m listening…” she says and the other two wait to either side of the bed.

“The person, whoever he or she may be, must be punished for their treachery…”

Nina laughs softly and darkly, “Oh, my dear Emperor, will you have me kill the entire Elder Council then?” She says and the man goes into shock with incredulity, “I think not. What better publicity can we ever hope to get than the one provided by the same men ruling the Empire?” She nods once more and the other two move, stabbing the man with their daggers in synchrony, “Now, your soul goes to Sithis. May the world once again fear the Brotherhood, as we are His will in this world.”

As Babette and Veezara clean their daggers, Nina stabs a piece of paper against the bed’s headboard, a bloody handprint on it.

“Look at this,” Babette says, running her hand over a mark on the chest of the emperor were his robe fell open, “It looks like the Amulet of Kings…”

“The Emperor never used crows, the amulet of Kings was their crown jewel, maybe it’s related to that?” asks Veezara.

“The King always have decoys, the tattoo is the mark the kings receives after being chosen, as he has it he’s the real one. I had to ask around many places until I found the exact day the real one would be sleeping here instead of just a look-alike. Can you imagine the headache of trying to find the real one after killing the bait?”

“The Penitus would hide him with more security than we could possibly deal with,” Babette says and they nod.

“This was bad enough as it is. Let’s go, we earned some rest.”

###### 24 First seed, 4E 202, Imperial City

After arriving with the family back at the house, with the kids in bed and her brothers drinking in celebration while Babette goes out to get her own, she takes a soak to clean the grime away. Putting a green dress with black lace around the arms and upper body that Nireth sewed a few days ago for her. She says goodbye to Erandur and Veezara and walks out of the house, hair loose and flying around with the soft breeze.

The Thalmor’s quarter is far easier to get into than the Emperor’s private room atop the Imperial Palace, dressed in a restrictive pretty dress and everything, she thinks while taking the clothes off and getting into the bed in the room, soon falling asleep.

She wakes up several hours later to Lillandle pinning her to the bed with half of his body over hers and his erection brushing her tight. She snakes a hand between their bodies and grabs the engorged flesh between her fingers, already feeling her dragon soul purring at the prospect of pleasure, inside of her mind.

The mer turns in the bed, giving her the perfect position to unbutton his sleeping clothes and to lower his trousers, freeing the golden cock out of the cottoning restrictions. She licks her lips at the sight, feeling herself getting wet at the thought of having it thrust inside her.

She shakes her head, clearing the mist of lust clouding her senses dangerously quickly. Get a grip! She thinks to herself, taking deep breaths and feeling more under control after a minute.

Lowering her head, she kisses him while her hand still moves over his dick and he wakes up slowly, returning her kisses sloppily and thrusting in her hand with soft sighs coming out of his mouth. She moves downwards, leaving marks a biting softly his skin as she continues her path south as his hands caress her body.

She licks the shaft in her hand from the balls up to the leaking tip, earning a growl from the elf, moistening her lips, she starts engulfing his length with her mouth as the mer opens his eyes and looks down, stiffening and blinking with surprise at the sight.

“You!” He says but is unable to continue as she moves her tongue and her mouth descends over him, deeper and deeper, slowly taking all of it inside her mouth and swallowing when he rests balls deep down her throat, “Damn…” he growls again as the constriction feels delicious.

She takes deep and slow breaths with her nose, releasing the flesh as slowly as she took it, making a lewd pop noise as the throbbing appendage gets free, “Me!” she says then, smiling at him and moving up, exposing all of her naked body as she rests with her hips and wet center right over his aching need, “I thought,” she says in a drawl, moving her warm and leaking pussy over him, “that I could pay you a visit,” she finishes, taking the tip of his cock inside her folds, “or would you prefer that I leave?” she questions, stopping entirely her movements.

“You devious woman,” the Commander growls and putting his hands over her hips, thrust all the way in swiftly and Nina mewls in pleasure.

“Yesss…” she sighs and moans as he starts a fast pace, thrusting deep into her welcoming heat.

She helps with the movements, rotating her hips and as he moves his hands to grab and play with her stiff nipples she throws her head back, supporting herself up by her hands on his knees as she rides him with wanton moans falling from her lips and he pants, both getting covered in sweat as they enjoy themselves.

They are the perfect sight of pleasure and sin as their bodies shook in orgasm, just as the door is thrown open and an entourage of guards run in, followed closely by Andranirya who struts inside the room and stops right beside the bed, looking down at them with contempt as Nina sighs and the mer grunts his pleasure.

Lillandle is shocked into silence as his dick still spurts his seed inside Nina, who smiles like the cat that got the cream as she turns her head to the side to look at the female clad in shiny elven armour and a white cape, “Hello Andy, I thought you were stuck in Alinor. Or, at least, that’s what your son said last we talked,” she says to the glaring female.

“Get off the Commander so he can get his blood flowing back to his brain and understands what I need to tell him, Nina,” she says coldly but a fond smile finds its way on her face anyway, “It’s good to see some things never change…” she says giving her butt a slap as the falmer stands, leaking cum shamelessly and walking to the bathroom to get cleaned up.

“I love you too, dear!” Nina shouts to her friend before closing the door from the heated stares from the soldiers in the room. She comes out of it refreshed and with her green dress on once more, finding Lillandle and Andranirya sitting on a table discussing something.

She walks up to them and sits with a sigh, “You owe me for that interruption,” she says to the other female before tucking in the breakfast laying on the table.

“How can I possibly make it up to you?” Andy asks with a playful smile.

“Come back to Skyrim? That Elenwen bitch is insufferable,” Nina rolls her eyes and bits on a toast with jam on it.

“Sorry sweety, Herself still wants me back after this,” Andranirya shakes her head, “But we could always have a party like we used to do back at your Alinor house…” she proposes and Nina looks at her with bright eyes.

“You always know how to please me,” the falmer says with a saucy smile and Lillandle chokes on his tea, “Don’t worry my dear Commander, I’ll share her with you,” she whispers in his ear while patting his tight and enjoying the look on his face.

“You’re worse than usual…” Andy comments with a quizzical eyebrow raised at her.

“Athyarel told you about me being Dragonborn I imagine,” she says with an indifferent shrug, Andy nods and Lillandle chokes on tea again, “so, the thing is… I’ve got the sexual drive and stamina of a fucking dragon too as a result,” Nina sighs, “It’s damn maddening sometimes.”

“Oh, poor you,” Andy mokes her friend and Nina pouts.

“I feel like jumping everything that moves on my vicinity, all the damn time. It’s not funny!” She says loudly and without meaning to, breaks the table in half with the strength of her hands hitting the wood. She sighs again, apologising, as Andy keeps things from falling to the floor with telekinesis and they move to another one, “See? That’s also another dragon thing, I’m as strong as my damn summoned Dremora!”

“Oh? How did you find out about that?” Andy asks with surprise and an inkling of an idea.

“It was before I killed Alduin, I was at the temple killing things and got out of control. The last thing I remember is killing a Dragon Priest, next, I’m pinning Johnny to the floor and riding him like the end of the world is due.”

“Took you long enough,” the other female says with a laugh, aggravated by Nina’s pout.

“Enough about me, what are you doing here anyway?” The falmer asks and Andranirya’s mood sours.

“I hate my job sometimes,” Andy sighs, “I came for one little thing and found the damn Emperor dead, can you believe it?” She comments shaking her head.

“What?!” Lillandle says startled.

“Wow, that was slower than I was expecting,” Nina says without much of a reaction, sipping her tea and gaining stares from the other two elves, “Maybe... Was it Athyarel who sent you?” She asks at Andy who nods with suspicion, “That’s my cue then, here,” she gives the woman a note signed for the Third-Counselor and the commander gasps.

“You didn’t,” Andy says.

“I don’t know what you mean…” she smiles with mischief as the woman opens the note and reads.

“You joined that group again?” Andranirya says shaking her head, “I thought it was a one-time thing…”

“You and me both, but when an Et’ada asks for something, you can hardly say no to them…” she shrugs as Andy rubs her face and Lillandle looks between them with apprehension.

“You really don’t want to know Commander,” the elf says catching his odd look. “Keep your curiosity, this woman is dangerous and let’s just keep it at that,” Andy says with a motion to Nina who winks to the confused altmer. “You have new orders,” she passes the letter to the mer and stands, “Would you introduce your brats to me? I always loved kids…” she says with a wistful smile.

“Of course, but I must warn you, they’re probably sleeping. It was a long night for all of us.”

Andy growls, facepalming and glaring at Nina, “You did not!”

She crosses her arms, glaring back at her friend, “Let’s see how long you can resist when they ask for something with their glassy and hopeful eyes set on you!” Nina humps as the female throws her arms up in frustration.

“They may not be yours by blood, but they sure as all Oblivion sound like it!”

* * *

“Are you staying longer around here?” Andy asks as they have dinner on her chambers that night.

“I planned on it, but I received a letter from Taarie the other day with the news of some sort of cultists attacking the palace, but fortunately everyone is fine. The problem is that she discovered that they’re the responsible for father’s murder,” Nina says frowning down at the soup, “I’m waiting for my eldest kids to arrive and we’ll travel back to Skyrim so I can do something about that…”

“What kind of cultists?” The altmer asks with worry.

Nina shrugs, “Some crazy guys saying that I’m a fake Dragonborn or something like that attacked the palace. Silly them for keeping the order instead of getting rid of it, now I know where I need to go to find answers about some guy called Miraak.”

“Just… be careful Nina.”

“Oh, you truly care about me!” The pale elf says with a hand over her chest and the other throws a napkin at her with a smile.

###### 28 First Seed, 4E 202, Imperial City

Arms covered in black fur envelope Nina from behind, where she sits on the Arboretum under the shadow of a tree as she looks at the kids running around.

“Hello son,” she says stroking his arms, “How was your trip?”

K’arr rounds the bench and sits on the grass at her feet, “Tiring but rewarding, I think you’ll enjoy all the things I recovered,” he purred as she scratches the fur on his neck, “I’m gonna miss the warm though.”

“Where is your brother?”

He stops the purring and looks down sheepishly, scratching his neck awkwardly, “He… he is staying at Elsweyr, mother…”

“What?” Nina asked with surprise, “Why?!”

“He met someone while we were there…”

“Oh…” she looks down at her son with sadness, he gasps startled as she raises him to her lap and hugs him tightly to her, sobs falling softly from her lips, “I didn’t realize… you’ve grown up so quickly…”

“There, there…” the khajiit says patting her back and feeling uncomfortable as he hasn’t sat on his mother’s lap in many decades.

“What happened?” Nireth asks sitting beside them and rubbing her friends back soothingly.

“R’sien will be staying at Elsweyr as he found a mate and mother is sad, I think...” the khajiit explains.

“Oh, my…” the dunmer gasps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, the Arcane University is supposed to be closed. I don't care, I'm...reopening it.  
> Also, I’m ignoring the Levitation Act of the 3E 421 and messing around with teleporters and other supposedly outlawed magic, yay!  
> And if anyone is interested, I've been using a fanmade Dunmeri Language. Here: casualscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Dunmeri_language


	10. The search for Miraak

###### 1 Rain’s Hand, 4E 202, Dawnstar Sanctuary

“The Emperor is dead!” Nina shouts with grandiosity at the group of sociopaths sitting on the long table, who cheers at her words, “And guess how much we’ve got for it!”

She raises a big sack full of clinking coins and all of their eyes go wide, smiles take over their faces, and even the most grumpy of them seem happy. They cheer some more, throwing numbers as she descends the stairs, she leaves the sack to the side as Cicero comes closer and hugged her tightly.

“Tell us, Listener, how much is in there?” Nazir says over the raised voices of the other assassins.

“Twenty-thousands!” She screams and giggles as Cicero makes her spin around the room.

Their laugh echoes around the room with mirth, “The Dark Brotherhood is back!” Nazir says with a belly laugh and clinks a goblet with Veezara, “You lucky bastard got to be present too.”

The entirety of the Brotherhood is there for the celebration, as Nina asked Veezara and Babette to bring the others to Dawnstar for a party while she went to collect their payment. They have a big feast and party the entire day, eating and drinking, telling stories of other contracts after the three who killed the Emperor finish that particular tale.

“I know I said that you could start training and be part of the family, but I just want you to know, that if you feel that something is too much you can tell me, I won’t get mad, ok?” Nina says to Alesan and Lucia the next day as they sit for breakfast.

“Yes mom,” they answer in unison, looking still tired after going to sleep late the previous night.

“Listener, the things I retrieved from the Sanctuary…” Calixto says passing a pouch to her before sitting at the table.

“Thank you, Calixto,” she says with a smile and raises an eyebrow as she notices hickeys on his neck, “Had fun last night, brother?”

He raises his head from his plate with curiosity and after Nina points a finger to his neck he gets flustered, “It was nothing…”

“I’m sure,” she says with a laugh and after finishing her food, she goes to sit in front of the Night Mother to listen to her.

_Another child has prayed to their mother…_ the ethereal voice floods her mind and she writes on the notepad, writing Mother’s instructions for the new contracts.

Some hours later, she gives Astrid some of the contracts as their group wander to the exit and back to their Sanctuary, with all of the boys; but the girls will stay, Lucia wants to learn Restoration and Erandur is a Master of it so he will teach her, Sofie still prefers the bow to magic and there’s no one better with it in the family than Cicero. Alesan talked Nazir around the subject of learning from him while the other two will become apprentices of Festus as the man is getting old and wants to pass his knowledge to the next generation.

When she announces her departure Cicero is heartbroken as they’ve been gone for so long already, but promises to keep everyone while she’s gone. She pays a visit to the construction site and talks with Delvin for a while, before leaving for the palace.

Since Ri’irr left with K’arr, because he missed his brother, Nina arrives alone at the palace and leaves Shadowmere on the stables. The many books retrieved from the old Sanctuaries were more useful than she expected, she has lots to read yet but the few she perused revealed the spell to summon the steed that’s helped many in the Brotherhood before her.

As she enters, she walks to the kitchen where almost everyone is as it’s late in the evening and she gives them a general greeting and sits to eat. Anya, with her big and round belly, sits a few chairs away on her left, in only three more months she will give birth and she looks radiant as she speaks with those around her and rubs her stomach.

“Any news?” She asks after chewing a bite of venison.

Taarie nods to her right, “Anya is expected to give birth by the end of mid year, one of the guards is also pregnant and Kidalor is leaving us in a week or so.”

“The fetcher that comes with K’arr sometimes didn’t lose his time when he was around here for the holidays,” Vyrthur comments from her left with laughter.

“Brynjolf? Wow, he’s going to freak out when he learns about this,” Nina says with a smirk, “What about Kidalor?”

“He received a letter from his sick mother in Valenwood, he needs to take care of her.”

“Is it bad?”

“Old age mostly. He asked if he could bring her here so she can live with her kin again, I hope you don’t mind that I said yes.”

Nina shakes her head, “No, it’s fine.”

“Also, Sondryn and Sivus are in a relationship,” Vyrthur says moving his head to the side where the couple were talking, further down the table.

“Vyrthur and Vyrvhis too,” Taarie says playfully causing the old mer to sputter and look away shyly, not knowing how to answer, while said female waves at Nina and then kisses him on the cheek, saying loudly how cute he is and causing a heavy blush to cover his face.

“How sweet…” Nina whispers to Taarie and they giggle at the scene.

* * *

“Do you have everything?” Asks Taarie walking inside Nina’s room a few days later.

The elder sister looks around and palms the pouch hanging from her side, “Light and heavy armour, extra clothes, smalls, Auriel’s bow and some arrows blessed by Gelebor, Sanguine’s Rose, the Wabbajack, the books recovered from the Sanctuaries… What else?”

“Food?”

“Already packed…”

“Soap, hairbrush, oils...?”

“Yes… Aha, the list!” She says walking to her desk and moving things around.

“What list?” Taarie asks with curiosity.

“I found out how to create the Teleport Pads, but I need a few things that I’m not sure I can find here,” she grabs the list she made earlier and puts it on the pouch, grabbing the heavy cloak from the bed and walking out of the room with her sister next to her, “Ezith said that maybe Neloth could help me, and seeing as I’m going to Solstheim now and he’s there, I’ll pay him a visit.”

“What is he doing there?”

“Researching something, Ezith didn’t really explain, you know how those two are...”

“Send him my best wishes…” Taarie says squirming on the door as Nina shrugs the cloak on before walking out on the snow.

“I’ll let him know you’re still waiting,” Nina says with a playful wink and laughs as her sister blushes.

“Stubborn Telvanni mage,” the younger sister grumbles and hugs her before she leaves.

“I’ll kick his ass if he plans on making you wait another decade for an answer sis, don’t worry,” Nina pats her back one last time and waves to the others there to say goodbye to her, “Take care, everyone.”

Ninada mounts on Shadowmere and in under two hours she reaches Windhelm. She stops near the Hlaalu farm, not looking forward to going inside the city any time soon and with a quick cast of the levitation spell that Ezith gifted her, she stands on the docks a few seconds later. She talks with a few sailors going on around which tell her to talk with Gjalund for a trip to Solstheim.

But she seems to be out of luck as the man greets her with bad news, “If you're looking for a passage to Solstheim, too bad. I'm not going back there anymore,” he says with fearful eyes.

“Why do you look kind of scared about the place? The sailor back there told me you travelled there all the time…”

“It's hard to explain... I remember those people with the masks coming on board, then... The next thing I remember, I was here and they were gone. That's not right, losing whole days like that. There's been something strange happening on Solstheim for a while, but after this... I'm done. I'm not going back to Solstheim. Once was strange, twice is just too much.”

The elf tenses as the captain mention the masked people and looks at the man with hard and cold eyes.

“Yes, you better stay here. Those masked people killed my father over a year ago and attacked my family last month. You don’t want to know what I’ll do if they appear around here a third time…” she states looking down at the pale man for a couple of seconds before sharply turning around and going back to the coast.

She walks away from the farm and calls for Odahviing, who arrives a moment later.

“Drem yol lok thuri.”

“Hello to you too, Odahviing. Have you ever been to Solstheim?”

“Geh, Dovahkiin. Why do you ask?”

“Some cultists attacked my family while I was in Cyrodiil and after searching their bodies, my sister discovered they appear to be responsible for my father’s murder too. I need to punch some of them and discover what is going on with this guy Miraak that…” as Odahviing rears back at the mention of the name, she looks up sharply at him, “Have you heard that name before?”

“Krosis, I’m surprised to hear that name after so long. Indeed I know of him, he was a dovah sonaak, a dragon priest who turned against Alduin and has knowledge about a shout capable of bending the will of other dragons for his own gain. Vahlok was charged with the responsibility of looking for his return as he escaped before being completely defeated in battle,” he says shaking his big head and insulting the guy, “Nikriin!”

As the dragon insults Miraak for hiding away and being a coward, Nina thinks about this new information, “Wait… he can shout?” she asks just realizing what the dragon said.

“Geh, rok lost faal diist Dovahkiin.” _Yes, he was the first Dragonborn._

“The first Dragonborn eh? That’s interesting… but why would he attack my family then? It makes no sense,” she shakes her head, “It doesn’t matter. He sent his minions after my family and he will die for that.”

“Be careful around him Dovahkiin. Ziinmen gein do dii zeymahhe spaan wa Miraak.” _Twenty-one of my brothers fell to Miraak._

Nina looks up at the dragon with dismay, “He killed twenty-one dragons by himself?” Odahviing only grunts back as an answer.

###### 5 Rain’s Hand, 4E 202, Solstheim

Taarie, the sisters and Nina talked long and extended about what to do once she finds the responsible for the attacks against the family. Obviously, they didn’t know at the time that Miraak is the first Dragonborn. The idea of walking up to the man, tie him up and take him back to Skyrim for trial and punishment is moot now; if he also absorbed the souls from the dragons he killed then he may be as strong as Nina... stronger even.

The first phase of the plan hasn’t changed, though, talking with the locals and finding what they know about the cult of Miraak to find clues of his possible location.

As the isle comes into view, Odahviing starts his descent, landing outside of the city so the guards don’t startle at their presence. As they get closer to a destroyed shack, they find someone fighting ash men. As Odahviing lands, the fighters get destabilized and he shouts to the ash spawns, which get destroyed instantly.

Grabbing the cowl that protects her face from the ash, Nina levitates down, stopping the dunmer from attacking Odahviing with a raised custody between them.

“That is no way to say thanks,” she says and the man steps back.

“I’m sorry, I thought the dragon would go for me next. Thank you for the assistance,” he says looking at Odahviing with unveiled curiosity but the dragon pays little to none attention to the dunmer.

Nina turns to Odahviing while the man stares at them, “I was thinking we could have some fun fighting other dragons here, but with Miraak having a shout that can bend dragons to his will I’d prefer not to risk you,” she says giving a sorry look at him.

“I understand thuri.”

“Take care, friend,” she smirks as he startles and his wings twitch, “I’ll call you if I kill something that looks tasty,” she walks away and laughs as she hears the incredulous whisper of ‘fahdon’ in the air before he flies away.

As she crosses the archway into the city, she stomps her foot to clean the soot from her boots and looks around, many banners from house Redoran adorn the ash-covered city of Raven Rock.

“I’m Nina by the way,” she says raising a hand to the Dunmer who followed her.

“Captain Modyn Veleth,” he says shaking her hand, “Thanks again... I wasn't sure I'd make it off that farm alive. I wish I could have said the same for my men.”

“What brought you to that old farm anyway?”

“I was going to search for clues that might lead me to wherever they're coming from. I know it isn't the best place to start, but we know they've been coming from that direction.”

“Ashes of the dead,” Nina says to him and the mer cocks his head reflexively, “Or at least, that’s the theory some friends of mine have about those things.”

“Some of the Redoran Guard have taken to calling them ‘ash spawn’ and your friend's theory may have some true on it, they started appearing after the house burnt down with the family still inside. That would explain why they appeared always from that direction too, which is why I was away from the city, to begin with.”

“When I go out next, I could look around for any clues about them and kill those things if I cross any.”

“Good, I can use all the help I can get. I don't feel comfortable leaving Raven Rock behind, and I'd hate to lose any more Redoran guards.”

Nina snorts softly at that, “Wow, I feel the concern…”

“I-I… sorry, that was uncalled for. My apologies.”

“I’ll see what I can do. Meanwhile, can you answer some questions for me?”

“Sure.”

“Do you know someone called Miraak?”

“I might know someone. Or maybe not. I can't remember…” he hesitates with his answer and his eyes glass over as if under some kind of influence… weird.

“Just tell me if you know him.”

“I... I can't. I just can't be sure. I think maybe he had something to do with a temple. A temple here on the island. Does that help?” He hesitates once more, looking pained for a flash of a second there and she relents, no need to cause him pain, she can always ask others around here.

“Not really, but thank you anyway. Can you lead me to the local inn?”

“The Retching Netch is just over there, let me know if you find anything,” he nods and walks away.

As the sun starts going down on the horizon she enters the inn, walking down the stairs and going directly to the innkeeper. She only walked for twenty minutes on the ash and her dress is ruined, Nireth would kill her.

“Welcome to the Retching Netch Cornerclub, home of the finest sujamma that will ever grace your lips.”

“Sujamma, dear Father it’s been ages since I had some. Give me a bottle and a room, please,” she gains a pleased smile from the mer, that introduces himself as Geldis Sadri and walks her to the room, leaving the sujamma and a goblet on the room’s table.

“Anything else I can help you with, milady?”

“A bath, if you don’t mind, a second outside and I’ve got covered in ash. I almost forgot how annoying that is.”

“Right away, I’ll leave towels out of the bathroom’s door so you can find it easily.”

Grabbing another cup from a drawer, she summons Johnny and serves the drink on the goblets, “ Hello,” Nina says in daedric, which is the most she can say as the language is practically entirely impossible to articulate with mortal vocal cords, the Valkynaz nods at her and sits grabbing the offered spirits. “When was the last time we had sujamma?” she ponders raising her goblet and looking at it for a moment, and then sips it, tasting the flavour of Geldis’ special brew, “Hmm, that’s nice…”

“When you visited that female in Mournhold. I was summoned in the middle of the Bazaar I believe…”

“Ah, yes, the bet against the other stupid mage.”

“His summon was no match against me,” he says proudly.

“And the earning from that bet went directly to the drinks of that night,” she licks her lips after finishing one cup, “This is better though, I’ll have to stock up some before going back home.”

“I can practically taste the ashes, as if I was back at the Deadlands. Where are we?”

“Solstheim, to the north of Skyrim,” she explains, getting off most of her clothes and grabbing a change for afterwards, donning a simple thin coat to walk to the bathroom, “I’m taking a bath, care to join me?”

The Dremora smiles a wicked grin and stands to follow along, “Lord Sanguine is going to get angry that you’ve been avoiding him but not me…”

* * *

“That was the best sujamma I’ve had, Geldis,” she says putting the empty bottle in front of the innkeeper who looks at her surprised, later that night.

“You drank all of that already? And you aren’t even swaying, you’ve surprised me,” he says laughing.

“Oh, I felt the extra potency of the sujamma just fine, it’s just that I’m used to strong beverages. After all those months back at Skyrim I’m just happy to have something that doesn’t taste like an entire beehive worth of honey in my mouth. There I only drink Cyrodiliac brandy, or I feel sick with the Nord’s mead,” she explains causing the room at large to laugh.

“I’m happy to be of service,” Geldis says with a bow, slightly blushing for her praise.

“Say Geldis, is there anyone here who can help me find my way around the island?”

“Yes, Teldryn Sero is always upstairs when he’s free. He’s a sellsword, knows this lands and is very skilled if you need a bodyguard.”

“Thanks, I’ll go check with him then.”

“Here, I've just added some new ingredients to the mixture that I think makes it taste better than ever. All I need to do is get the word out that it's ready and they'll flock here for it. A free sample, tell me what you think.”

She grabs the new bottle and two goblets, walking up the stairs and heading to the earth warming the room on the back. Someone clad head to toe in armour sits alone on a table, looking up at her when she gets near. She puts the sujamma and the goblets on the table, sitting on the free chair and getting a stare from the man.

“Teldryn Sero, blade for hire. If you have the coin, I’m at your service,” he says this with a sway on his tone that makes it sound funny, witty and makes her smile; she already likes him.

“Ninada Ulvls,” she passes him a drink, “How much for hiring you?”

“Five hundred,” he says and grabs the goblet, rolling it in place on the table, “And I’m worth every coin.”

She takes a sip from the drink and hums. It’s even stronger than the previous one! But she notices that Teldryn doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to start his own… maybe because of his helmet… Is he stuck in it? She cocks her head pondering.

“Follow me, I have a room downstairs where we can talk more.” She grabs the bottle and her goblet once more, walking to the room followed silently by the sellsword. “This new receipt of yours is amazing Geldis!” She says as they walk by the innkeeper, who smiles at them.

They walk inside her room and she sits down with a sigh, a bit sore. Teldryn puts his goblet down but doesn’t sit, apparently waiting for something…

“Geldis said you know this island well?” Nina asks and he nods, “Good, I need to find someone called Miraak. Have you heard about him?”

He sits then, tapping the border of his helmet with a finger, “The name sounds familiar… but, I’m not sure.”

“Ok… well, tomorrow morning we are going out there and I need to find anything and everything about that asshole,” she takes out her pouch and starts counting the coins to pay him, creating a big pile on the table, “Are you stuck on your helmet?” She asks out of nowhere and he laughs.

“No, no,” he puts the money away and takes the helmet off, looking at her for a reaction.

“Nice hairdo,” she says and takes a gulp of her drink, “I’m definitely taking some of this back home,” she takes a notebook from her pouch then and notes a few things while Teldryn follows her movements with curiosity.

###### 6 Rain’s Hand, 4E 202, Solstheim

Waking up early, Nina puts on some leather armour, not her best mind you, stupid ash. As she walks into the communal room of the inn, Teldryn is already on a table over there, she joins with a scowl.

“I have an extremely awful headache, I don’t know what the hell it is but this place is worse than Dawnstar under the wrath of Vaermina,” she says as a greeting, getting a cock of the head from Teldryn.

“Vaermina, seriously?” He asks with sarcasm, “After all that you drank last night, there’s no one to blame but you.”

“Please,” Nina shakes her hand at him, “That was nothing, if I couldn’t get completely drunk before, now that my dragon soul awakened I need a lot more than that to get even tipsy,” she sighs, “I never thought I’d say this… but I miss getting drunk with Sam…”

“What dragon soul?”

Nina binks a couple of times as she looks at the mer, realizing that he doesn’t know… “Right, I forgot to mention it. I’m the Dragonborn.”

Geldis trips hearing this as he was taking her breakfast to the table and looks apologetically at Teldryn as some of the scrambled eggs fell on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Teldryn…” he says nervously and walks away when the mer makes a shooing motion at him.

Nina looks amused at the retreating innkeeper, “Why did he look so fearful of you?” She asks and bites on her food.

“Most have never seen his face and act skittishly around him,” says Drovas while he cleans the other table in the inn, “I think it’s funny actually,” the guy walks away then.

“There goes the mystery…” Teldryn laments, “I get more clients because of the mystery of ‘what is under the helmet’ than anything else,” he comments without regret.

“Are you serious?” Nina asks and at his nod, she laughs, “Well, everyone has their own method I suppose…”

“So, about this Dragonborn business…”

“What about it?” She asks with a scowl.

He shrugs, “I don’t know, it just seemed so farfetched. I mean… the soul of a dragon? Really?”

Nina hufs a short breath, “Believe me, if I had a chance, I’d tell Auriel some chosen words myself about his dragon soul thingy…”

Teldryn laughs, “It isn’t as good as the Nords made it sound?”

“Oh, no. Actually, it’s all true. The strength of a dragon, the amazing shouts and the blessings of Auriel…” she explains numbering each thing by raising a finger, and cleaning her mouth with a napkin, she stands from the table, “Let’s get going.”

“Wow…”

“What they never mention is the hoarding issues, the eternal horny-ness and stamina to rival immortals, the need to protect your ‘territory’, the extended lifespan, and the nagging feeling at the back of your skull when you feel like you need to state your claim over something or as the strongest dragon out there,” she rolls her eyes, “Not that they know… most of their ‘Dragonborns’ never had to kill a damn dragon and absorb their soul. They were Dragonborns in name only. That’s how my own dragon soul ‘awakened’ to put it simply, I was a common Falmer before my first dragon soul.”

“And now you're stronger, territorial and always horny?”

She snorts, “You have no idea,” she bends to grab a little stone from the floor and throws it at him, “Squish that, as much as you can,” she says and he complies to her weird order, opening his palm afterwards to find the little stone as it was before she gave it to him. She takes it on her own hand, between thumb and index finger, the stone breaks under the pressure as he watches enraptured.

“That’s… sweet Azura,” he says breathlessly.

“That’s nothing. Have you ever wrestled with a Dremora?”

“I fought against one once, they’re damn strong, I thought that was my end until a friend struck him from behind and sent it back to Oblivion.”

“I can pin one under me without breaking a sweat, before, that wouldn’t have been possible.”

He stops dead in his tracks, “What?!”

Nina laughs and walks to the blacksmith, who has been working on the forge for a while and his loud hammering covered over their conversation.

“Either you're here to get showered in sparks, or you're looking for something to buy. Out with it,” the working man says after she stands to the side, staring at the Shadowmark on his door.

“Do you know someone called Miraak?”

“No, I... Wait. Maybe. I don't know how I know that name…”

“Which is it? Yes or no?”

“I... I'm not sure. I don't want to talk about this.”

She takes a deep breath, pinching her nose. The man had the same reaction as the Captain the day before and Teldryn last night. What is going on here?!

“That was weird…” Teldryn says besides her.

“I met the captain of the guards yesterday and he reacted quite the same,” she says with a glare at the blacksmith, “I also noticed the Shadowmark by your door,” she said louder regaining the man’s attention.

“Well, well,” he says now working with a sword on the anvil, “It’s been a long time since someone from the Guild’s bothered to make their way out here. So tell me… how’s my brother Delvin? Still spending his nights at the Ragged Flagon trying to win Vex’s heart?”

“He’s fine, but I’m not with the guild, my son is,” she says gaining his complete attention now and Teldryn hears from the side with an air of impatience but also curious enough as to wait some more.

“Oh… I thought, I’m sorry. Who’s your son?”

“K’arr, the Guild Master.”

“Really now?” He asks surprised, “What happened to Mercer?”

Nina scoffs, “Don’t remind me, I almost throttled that guy to death myself. He incriminated Karliah for Gallus dead and when she appeared back, he planned to use my son as a scapegoat for his plans. The guild got miffed at the guy because he emptied their vault from under their noses thanks to a little something he stole from Nocturnal.”

“Damn, he stole from a Daedra?!” Mallory says in shock.

Nina hums, “Yeah, the worst thing he could do. Stealing from Lady Luck? What an ass.”

“Damn layabout, never even bothers to send his own flesh and blood a letter saying how he’s doing. I have to learn this kind of things from practical strangers,” he raises a hand apologetically, “No offence,” but Nina shrugs it off.

“So, are you the only one from the guild around here or do I have to worry for my purse?” She asks playfully and the man snorts.

“I’m all alone out here, with no one to watch my back,” he says shaking his head, “And you don’t look like someone easy to rob, anyway.”

She snorts, “Considering I taught my son most of what he knows…” she shrugs, “While I’m around here I don't mind helping if I have the time though, I’ve got a liking to Delvin as he’s been helping my family lately and is the least I can do.”

“I’ll take your offer on that,” he says with clear relief, “A fellow Breton who went by the name of Esmond Tyne showed up on my doorstep a fortnight ago. He noticed the Shadowmarks just like you did, and I thought he was one of us.”

“Like you thought about me?” All three of them snort, “He stole something from you, didn’t he?”

Mallory sighs, letting the sword on a bench to the side and relaxing against his house’s wall, “That he did. Right out from under my nose. Can you believe it?” He rubs his face tiredly, “It’s my own formula for improved bonemold. Took me years to perfect.”

“And do you have any idea where he left to?”

“When he arrived he was talking some nonsense about Castle Karstaag and Rieklings. Vicious little buggers they are. He wouldn’t hear to reason about the dangers of that so I would bet a fat purse coin he’s there either hiding or dead.”

“I’ll get that for you when I find some time then…”

“Also, if you see Crescius Caerellius ask him for my pickaxe, would you? That foolish old man's taken it again!” He grumbles.

“Why all the fuss over a simple pickaxe?” Teldryn asks, apparently tired of waiting to the side.

“No, no, no. This isn't just your run-of-the-mill pickaxe... I'm talking about an Ancient Nordic Pickaxe. They don't exactly grow on trees, you know.”

“Can't you just get the guard to find Crescius?” Nina asks.

“Um, I prefer to handle these things on my own. Look, if you see Crescius, tell him to give me that pickaxe back and I'll pay you for the trouble.”

“What's an Ancient Nordic Pickaxe anyway?” Teldryn asks not finding it that special.

“It's the only tool tough enough to crack Stalhrim, is what it is. Not many of those beauties left in the world... forging them is a lost art. The one Crescius “borrowed” came from the Skaal village up north. I, uh, traded them some goods for it.”

“Is Stalhrim a type of ore?” Nina wonders as she never heard of it.

“Calling Stalhrim an ore is like calling my forge a campfire. Some say it's ‘enchanted ice’ but I think there's more to it than that.”

“I assume it's rare,” and valuable...

“I don't think I've come across more than a chunk or two in my lifetime, and smithing is my trade. If you're looking to learn more, you should head over to the Skaal Village. Someone there is bound to know more about it than I do.”

“Okay then,” she nods and leaves the place with a grumbling Teldryn behind, “You need to relax, kid. You’ll get grey hair like that.”

“I’m not a kid,” Teldryn complains, growling.

###### 6 Rain’s Hand, 4E 202, Solstheim

After talking with most of the people on Raven Rock and getting the same non-answer to her questions, Nina is frustrated. They stand on the docks after talking with many sailors and getting the same results over and over.

“I don't recognize you, so I'll assume this is your first visit to Raven Rock, outlander. State your intentions,” said a Dunmer who approached them from the city.

“I'm looking for Miraak. Do you know him?”

“Miraak... I... I'm... I'm not sure that I do.”

“Great,” she says with little patience left.

“Just remember, Raven Rock is sovereign territory of House Redoran. This is Morrowind, not Skyrim. While you're here you will be expected to abide by our laws.”

Nina cocks her head, glaring at the man who gets a bit uncomfortable under her hardened gaze. As she straightened herself, untying her right gauntlet and raising the protective leather covering the back of her right hand, she shows the man the tattoo on her skin.

“Is that all?” She asks haughtily while the mer blinks in shock as she puts her gauntlet back on.

“I’m sorry, sera,” he says with a little bow and a colder tone of voice if that is possible. “Adril Arano, Second Councilor of House Redoran, at your service.”

“Are you sure you know nothing of Miraak?” She asks once more, looking down at the elf, a cold glare and posture stiff.

“I... I'm unsure. I swear I know the name, but I cannot place it.”

“Can you tell me anything about him?”

“I don't think so. I'm not... The name has something to do with the Earth Stone, I think. But I'm not sure what.”

She walks away then, angry and tired, muttering under her breath and ignoring the stares she can feel from Teldryn right behind her and the confused Redoran Councilor further back.

Back at The Retching Netch, they sit inside her room waiting until the food is served and they are alone. She puts a ward around the room to avoid spies and looks at the dunmer.

“You have questions,” she says and motions with her hand for him to start while she picks on her food.

“You belong to House Telvanni?” Teldryn asks apprehensively.

Nina snorted a laugh, covering her mouth from spilling the food, and after swallowing she answers, “Honorary member only.” She shrugs and looks up at him, explaining, “My friend did it mostly to annoy his parents. Not that it matters much as it doesn’t give me any kind of power in the House’s system. It’s been used for protection of allies mostly, unlike how other Houses may use it.”

“Your friend must be really high up on the food chain then…” he says now more calmly. Nina only smiles, nor confirming or denying anything.

Nina relaxes against the chair, “Anyway, what is this Earth Stone that the Councilor mentioned?”

“Is some kind of… old magical stone? It’s a short walk to the north, we could go, it’s not that far.”

“And the Temple of Miraak that some people mentioned?”

“That’s deep in the mountains, slightly north-east from Raven Rock.”

Nina sighs, why two options in completely different directions? Fate be damned.

Finishing the food and walking out of the inn, they walk to the Earth Stone, which can be appreciated after just wandering out of the walls of Raven Rock. They arrive at the construction site and Nina observes in apprehension as many villagers walk around like zombies, mumbling nonsense and working on the construction of something around it mindlessly.

“What the hell?” She says, walking around and feeling an odd compulsion to touch the central stone, but she fights it off with little effort. “I don’t like this…” she mumbled and Teldryn nodded in agreement.

Just as they round the thing, they find a Dunmer taking notes and whispering things while he observes the people working around the stone.

“Neloth?”

The mer raises his head, stopping the note-taking. “Nina?” he asks surprised, but regains his composure soon enough, walking closer and bowing, “Your majesty,” he mokes and she pats his shoulder with a snort.

“Not you too, Driyan gave the same nonsense back at Cyrodiil,” she says with an eye roll as he smirks slightly.

“What are you doing here?” He asks putting away the notebook and looking curiously at her companion.

“Miraak, the leader of a cult from around here, is the one responsible for father’s death. Only recently I discovered he’s also the first Dragonborn. I came looking for him but nobody seems able to give me a direct answer. Do you have any idea what is going on with them?”

They look back at the construction, where the people keep working and Neloth sighs, “I’ve been studying this phenomenon for a while now, without any conclusion. It only rests to wait and see what happens when they finish it.”

“Great,” she says pinching her nose, “Do you know anything about Miraak?”

“Not really, but there is a temple with that name on the middle of Solstheim.”

Nina hums, “Yeah...It’s worth a shot, I suppose,” she looks back at Teldryn, “What do you say? Up for some scavenging of an old temple?” She asks her new companion with a smile.

“Ready when you are,” is all that he says.

They start walking back to Raven Rock, Neloth tagging along, “Oh, before I forget,” Nina says turning around sharply and punching the Telvanni square on the face, “That is for making my sister wait for two decades too long, you better have an answer ready for her before I leave next time or else...” she glares down at him as the mer spits blood on the ashen floor.

“Such a bitchy Queen…”

“What was that?”

“I’ll have an answer.”

“Pruzah,” Nina rumbles with a satisfied nod and walks away with a snickering Teldryn.

They walk for many hours until they reach a river, Neloth points to his tower, far in the distance, “That’s Tel Mithryn, come by when you’ve finished your things,” then he turns to the north, “If you follow up north, reaching the snow, you’ll find skeletons of dragons. Follow them and you’ll find the temple.”

“There is no need for instructions, she contracted me to guide her and I’m capable of it,” Teldryn says puffing up.

“Khebreith mhurjul,” _Foolish child_ , Neloth says sneering, “Watch out how you talk to me…”

“Let’s everyone chill,” Nina says standing between them and putting her hands on their chests, “Teldryn… Neloth…”

“I’ll never understand how you suffer this brutes, daeljuhn.” _friend_ , the mage turns and leaves without further comments.

When Neloth is far enough, she turns to Teldryn and slaps the back of his head. “Remember that Telvanni friend I talked to you about?” She asks tapping her wrist over her covered tattoo, before he complains, and the mer stops rubbing the back of his head.

“That’s him?”

“Neloth Telvanni, yes. Be more careful who you anger Teldryn,” she sighs and walks up north, “His twin, Ezith, is the Arch-Mage of the Arcane Academy and their father is a Wizard-Lord of House Telvanni. Unless you want to end up as one of his research subjects, you’ll be more careful.”

“Wait, what?!” He shouts, running to catch up with her, cursing his rashness under his breath, “And if you’re that guys friend… he wasn’t entirely kidding when he called you ‘your majesty’ was he?”

Nina frowns, “No, he wasn’t. I’m the Queen of what is left of the Falmer race. Why would I be accepted as an Honored Member of House Telvanni otherwise? I was just a princess then, but the crown was always meant to fall to me someday. House Telvanni has always been all about power.”

“Of course…” Teldryn snorts, cursing under his breath, “I should address you as your Majesty from now on then…” he tells her with sass and Nina snorts a ‘Whatever.’

* * *

After that, Teldryn is silent and contemplative. They arrive at the temple to find more people under some sort of trance and mumbling gibberish.

“This is not natural…” Teldryn says as they descended to the middle of the structure.

A blond woman, who seems to be trying to break the people from their trance, walks around talking to them without much result. They walk closer, Nina wants to ask what she knows about Miraak, but the floor trembles and catches their attention. From a lowering platform to the sidewalk come three guys dressed in the same tunics that Taarie kept from the cultists who attacked the palace. They immediately get in a battle stance and start throwing spells at Nina, her companion, and the unknown female.

The Nord kills her opponent with her blade while Nina shots chained lightning at both hers and Teldryn’s enemies, who fall dead immediately.

“Really?” Teldryn asks looking back at her and patting his slightly signed overcoat.

“You need to be quicker,” Nina laughs.

“You there. I am Frea of the Skaal. What brings you to this place?” The woman asks approaching them cautiously.

“I’m Ninada and this is my friend Teldryn. I’m looking for Miraak. Have you heard of him?”

“Yes, actually. My father Storn, our shaman, says Miraak has returned to Solstheim, but that is impossible.

“What do you know about Miraak?”

“His story is as old as Solstheim itself. He served the dragons before their fall from power, as most did. A priest in their order. But unlike most, he turned against them. He made his own path, and his actions cost him dearly. The stories say he sought to claim Solstheim for himself, and the dragons destroyed him for it.”

“You shouldn’t be here alone. Miraak indeed has returned. The bastard had my father murdered after sending his cultist to our home.”

“My condolences, but I am here to either save my people or avenge them. I am unsure what, but something has taken control of most of Solstheim. It makes them forget themselves and work on these horrible creations that corrupt the Stones, the very land itself. You and I both have reason to see what lies beneath us. Let us go. There is nothing more I can do here. The Tree Stone and my friends are beyond my help for now. We need to find a way into the temple below.”

“Are you sure about this?” Nina asks and the woman nods with certainty, “Let us go then…”

They find a door at the end of the platform the cultists came out of, a ruin like those littering Skyrim is inside, unsurprisingly.

“What is the Tree Stone?” She asks at the Nord woman, as they descend.

“It is an ancient stone of power, a connection to the All-Maker. It represents one of the aspects of nature, a part of the All-Maker's creation. There are other stones around Solstheim. I fear for what has happened to them…”

“A connection to… Auriel?” Nina wonders.

“Yes, Akatosh.”

Nina grimaces but keeps her thoughts to herself. As they walk down the crypt they fight two more cultists and reach a large room with iron cages hanging from the ceiling.

“Oh look, draugrs,” Teldryn says with sarcasm, “I swear, Nords were obsessed with those.”

“Ugh don’t remind me, Skyrim is worst. In any other crypt over there I would have already killed a dozen of them after walking for this long.”

Cultists, draugrs, skeletons, tramps, the place is full of them. And not in the sense of one tramp here, a draugr there, no. The place is armed to the teeth with undead and tramps. By the time they reach the Word Wall, Nina is tired after using so much magicka and the new word rushing into her skull dizzies her.

She comes back to consciousness breathing hard and in Teldryn’s arms, “What happened?”

“You fainted suddenly after walking to the wall over there like a zombie. Should I be worried?” The dunmer asks helping her sit up on the floor.

“Nah, it’s just the rush of information making me dizzy when I’m already magickally exhausted. It’s normal.”

“You mean that happened to you before?” Frea asks with concern.

“I’m Dragonborn,” the falmer grumbles as the woman gets a wondrous look. “Let’s continue,” she said sharply, standing and ignoring the headrush.

It’s many hours later, and it surely is at least midnight outside as Nina is starving, that they reach a final room that has a… curious wall decoration.

Frea walks around the room, turning around until she catches sight of the book lying inconspicuously on the pedestal, and shivers, “There are dark magicks at work here. Ready yourself. This book... It seems wrong, somehow... Here, yet... not. It may be what we seek.”

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Teldryn asks looking as expectant as Frea does.

“Are you mad?” Nina whispers at them angrily, tearing her eyes from the book, “I’m not touching that! Hermaeus is my least favourite Prince after Molag Bal and Namira. No way in the Myriad Realms I would ever go to Mora willingly. I’d launch myself from the Hill of Suicides before I’d do that.”

She shakes her head, ignoring their startled looks and searches for a way out which isn’t far away. Finding it quickly, she floats the book to her pouch and walks out of the crypt with the other two hot on her heels.


	11. Black Book

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who were already reading this story from before I started editing (9/11), press f3 and type Bloodskal Barrow. You should read from that paragraph and forward as it is new.

###### 7 Rain’s Hand, 4E 202, Solstheim

“Would you like to accompany me? The Skaal village is not far and father may have more information about that book,” Frea says as they reach the outside.

“A bed sounds nice,” Teldryn whispers.

“Thank you,” Nina said tiredly, a bed is always better than a bedroll, outside, and in the cold.

True to her word, Frea leads them to the village in under thirty minutes. As they walk near a congregated group of people under some kind of trance, Frea talks to another woman in hushed whispers and then let them rest on a room that has a simple bed of straw and is covered with some furs.

“I’m sorry I can’t offer you anything more than this, but we rarely if ever have visitors.”

“Don’t worry. This is much better than sleeping on bedrolls outside, with the cold and the ash.”

Frea apologises one last time and leaves, wishing them good night. Nina gets her armor off, standing on a simple dirty white cotton t-shirt and her panties. As she takes an extra soft fur from her pouch and turns, Teldryn is there with his helmet on hand and staring.

“If I get to admire this view often, I won’t mind heading for Skyrim with you... I've spent enough time in Solstheim to last me a lifetime anyway,” he smirks as Nina snorts and falls into the makeshift bed.

“You’re skilled enough I suppose,” she says rolling to the side as Teldryn lowers his body over the furs beside her, clad in simple breeches and a black t-shirt that’s seen better days. She falls asleep hearing him sulk, saying he’s ‘the best spellsword in Morrowind.’

* * *

Fortunately, she doesn’t have any unpleasant dreams that night. She even wakes up comfortably warm and snuggles into the heat of the body next to her, hearing the rumble of a soft laugh under her ear.

“What time is it?”

“If you opened your eyes, you’ll notice that the sun hasn’t risen yet,” Teldryn rasps with his voice husky from sleep, “Do you plan on getting off me anytime soon?” he asks playfully.

“Nope,” Nina whispers, snuggling him tighter, “I’m keeping you as my warm teddy from now on, now shush, it’s too early for being awake...”

She sleeps soundly for a couple more hours and wakes up to soft laughter once more, grumbling as her eyes open and light blinds her. Frea closes the door and the light recedes a little.

“You look comfy there,” Frea says and Nina notices that the earlier laughter was from the woman.

“I have a beautiful female wrapped all over me, I can’t complain,” Teldryn comments softly and Frea laughs some more.

“Father is resting, but I talked to him about the book we found before he went to sleep, he says that the only way to know any more about them is talking with the mage in Tel Mithryn,” as she says this Teldryn groans, “or reading it to learn more about Miraak, if she thinks she can handle it. And also, there is a word of power that he said Ninada should obtain, on a ruin nearby, and she can use it to destroy the control Miraak has over the Tree Stones to help the people under his thrall.”

“It will work with the other stones too, I’d think, right?” Nina asks rolling on the furs and blinking at the Nord.

“Yes,” Frea nods.

“You know where the other stones are?” She whispers to Teldryn and widely yawns, stretching her body and sneezing in the cold room as she isn’t plastered against the warm Dunmer anymore.

“Yes, I know,” he says standing and borrowing the map of Solstheim that she left on a table, “The Wind Stone is here,” he says pointing to the location on the map as Nina walks to stand next to him, “The Tree and Beast Stones are close by, here, and the Sun Stone is here, near Tel Mithryn. You already know about the Earth Stone, so that leaves the Water Stone, here.”

“Where is the word wall, Frea?” Nina asks and the woman approaches.

“There,” she points at the map and Teldryn hums.

“Saering’s Watch? It’s been a long time since I went that far north, but I heard talks of a dragon roaming around there,” Teldryn comments.

“Ok,” the Falmer drawls contemplatively, “I know what I’m gonna do then.”

She grabs her armor to wash it and some clean clothing and leaves to take a bath inside the room Frea told her the night before.

“Are you sure about this?” Teldryn says from the chair at one side of the room, Frea looks just as worried beside the door.

Nina sighs, relaxing on the furs and preparing herself mentally for the task at hand, entering Hermaeus Mora’s realm… something she swore she’ll never do if given a choice. Life sucks.

“I’m not, obviously, but needs must and all...” she proceeds to ignore them, and bracing herself, opens the book on her lap. Waking

Dreams, the title says, and she can’t read past that as tentacles sprout from the pages, surrounding her all around and making her feel dizzy until her body regains form in Mora’s realm.

Going for the first time to one of the Prince’s realms is always uncomfortable and her body feels awkward until said Prince gives her permission to prance around. Including Apocrypha now, she’s visited six realms of Oblivion. This one is, by far, the worst, she complains inside her mind as the air is stale and the sky a sickly green colour that gives her a headache as she squints trying to get her view settled and not so dizzy.

As she’s unable to move, Miraak has time to spare to shoot a spell that makes her land painfully on her hands and knees. He then proceeds to monologize and she grunts and tunes him out, missing as he orders the creatures around him to ‘send her back’ while he mounts a dragon and flies away, she loses consciousness soon enough as the creatures attack her helpless form on the floor.

It fucking hurts as she comes back to her body. Whatever those things did to her, it translated to her body as blinding pain that makes her body tremble and her head throb. She falls to her side, the book falling away closed and forgotten, while Teldryn and Frea fret over her shaking body.

“I-I will make M-Miraa-aak reg-gret… ever been b-born…” she gasps and immediately afterwards falls unconscious again.

* * *

When Nina regains her senses, she discovers to her unlimited annoyance, that she spent almost twenty-four hours with her body unmoving and her consciousness trapped in Apocrypha. So after some healing potions, Nina and Teldryn walk away from the Skaal village. She’s more determined than ever to find the asshole and tear new holes on him, hoping to avoid Black Books in the future.

As they near the ruins two hours later, they catch the sigh of the dragon fighting the draugrs of the ruin so Nina grabs Teldryn’s hand that was hovering over his weapon and leads him into a nearby cave instead.

“Let him kill the undead for us while we take a look here,” Nina says as she walks deeper into the cave.

“This is Benkongerike, it’s infested by rieklings you know…”

She shrugs and advances without much care, with the reluctant dunmer following. Certainly, inside the cave, they are greeted by many little green goblins.

They spend the following couple of hours killing the things and find an odd collection of ‘The Lusty Argonian Maid’ volumes 1 and 2 with the lone telekinesis tome mixed with them, some stalhrim she can’t take because the lack of a pickaxe and they come out on the mountains a little further away with another Black Book.

After her last experience with Black Books, Nina puts the new one away on her pouch to forget about the damn thing, they have a dragon to kill and she needs her strength focused on that.

They walk up to Saering’s Watch and find the dragon on top of the ruins, licking his wounds and half a dozen draugrs dead. As he is already wounded, they kill him quickly and easily, but… Miraak appears and takes the soul from her.

She tries to hit him without much result and Miraak gloats and taunts her, leaving as quickly as he appeared, after stealing the dragon soul.

Nina stands at the top of the ruins completely enraged and haywire. Her control snapping and her blood boiling, “Teldryn,” she growls looking back at the dunmer who startles at her wild appearance, “You need to get away from me, now.”

The mer gulps down nervously and backtracks slowly, watching as she summons a dremora and pushes him to the word wall like a ragdoll. As the elf goes down the stairs, he can hear the ruckus the duo make on top of the ruins and arranges his traitorous erection on his pants.

* * *

Nina walks down Saering’s Watch hours later and finds Teldryn with a cosy fire going on in one of the igloos to the right.

“Did you enjoyed yourself?” Teldryn asks with sass as she sits in front of the fire, she slaps his arm playfully.

“It’s late already,” she says as the sky starts to turn grey, “Let’s eat and sleep, we’ll continue in the morning.”

###### 9 Rain’s Hand, 4E 202, Solstheim

Teldryn wakes up and finds out that he’s alone, Ninada nowhere to be found, so he puts the bedroll away and takes a loaf of bread to munch on while he walks into the cold of Solstheim’s early morning.

He hears whispering as he walks away from the stone igloos and finds Nina with a ghostly figure talking as they look to the Sea of Ghosts. As she gives him a ‘good morning’, the ghost disappears.

“Ready to go?” She asks and they tackle the path to Castle Karstaag.

“The door to the Castle properly is locked so we have to go into it by the caverns underneath. With the amounts of rieklings there, we’ll probably find the thief dead somewhere not too deep inside.”

Fortunately, the entrance to the caverns is not far. They walk into the cave, trying to avoid the frozen water coming out of it until the path is cut so Nina uses a strong ice spell and freezes a narrow course for them to walk without having to swim, if she’s feeling the cold then Teldryn will get hypothermia if he gets wet on this kind of weather.

They find the body of a man in grey armour, which looks a lot like that of the Guild, close to the entrance and has a long spear protruding from his back that is more likely the reason for his demise. Teldryn kneels beside the guy and loots the body as Nina gets rid of a riekling looking out from over the frozen walls over their heads.

“I think this is what Glover wanted, right?” Teldryn says passing her the note he found on the dead body.

“Well, that was quick…” she says reading the letter.

“Should we go back?” Teldryn wonders standing back.

“Didn’t Frea said this rieklings attack and steal from everyone who comes close?”

“Yes…”

“Do you really want to pass up the chance to loot some gold and whatever else they may have accumulated?”

Teldryn laughs then and prepares his weapons to fight as the sound called the attention of the goblins. “Lead on!” He says and she can imagine the excited smile on his face under the chitin helmet.

They come out of the castle many hours afterwards. The place was plagued by the little goblins but it was worth it as their bags are now full of potions, gems, gold, armours and weapons. They rest on the dock of Northshore Landing after going down the mountain and keep going until they reach Bristleback Cave where more rieklings, and loot, wait for them.

They arrive at the Water Stone by the evening and the people are working uncaring of their presence as expected.

“Now what?”

“Now, I fuck up Miraak’s plans,” Nina says with an excited smile, breathing deeply and shouting, “GOL!”

The new shout is unlike any of the others, a colourful wind rushes out of her mouth and attacks the Stone, the green shine around it disappearing and the people regain their self-awareness as the chanting stops and they question where they are.

“Yes!” Nina claps once and ignores the amused snort from Teldryn, “Take that Miraak!”

But her mirth is short-lived. As the construction shakes and explodes, a black creature sprouts from the black water around the Stone, covered in tentacles and reeking of Mora’s realm.

“What in Oblivion is that?!” Teldryn shouts surprised as his hands work in summoning an atronach and grabbing the elven sword from his side.

“One of Mora’s daedra, I bet,” Nina shouts over the shrieks of the disgusting thing, “Something similar attacked me when I used the Black Book.”

They fight the thing for long and the battle is hard for both of them. Teldryn pants exhausted and out of magicka, Nina drinks the third magicka potion in under so many minutes and already feels the negative effect on her body as her hands burn when she summons two Dremoras and her vision blurs.

Her Dremoras and a hastily summoned Atronach from Teldryn keep the beast engaged as they regain their breath for a minute. She passes a healing potion to the Dunmer as she notices him holding his right side and the mer drinks it without a word.

“Do you think you can keep it busy while I shoot arrows from the back?” She asks.

Teldryn looks at her and she’s sure that he glares at her from under the helmet. “Maybe five minutes,” he finally says.

“More than enough to convert that thing in a pincushion,” she smiles straightening and taking Auriel’s bow from her magical pouch, the quiver with glowing sun-blessed elven-arrows soon follow and she straps it to her back.

They turn their heads as the atronach burst and the dremoras grunt in pain, “What is so special about that bow? And the arrows… I can feel something magical too from them,” he asks taking a battle stance once more, waiting for the Dremoras to fall back to Oblivion.

“A little something that I took from the Chantry of Auriel when I visited last time,” she comments grabbing an arrow and aiming. The elven arrow sails through the air with a whistle and embeds in the head of the monster, exploding with a blinding light and enraging the thing as it burst on fire.

“Wow!” Teldryn whistles and laughs, “A little something, she says…” and then charges to the black beast slashing at it and avoiding its attacks as Nina shots arrow after arrow to the damn thing.

By the time that Mora’s monster falls defeated, Nina has run out of arrows and was ready to summon Johnny. She runs to the dunmer, catching him as he stumbles in his place and helping the exhausted mer away from the Stone.

She puts up the leather tent a good distance from the Water Stone and throws a bedroll under it, helping Teldryn to lie down and getting him out of the armor to assess his injuries. Besides some cuts and magicka exhaustion, he only has a broken rib on his right side and she breaths easily as the bone doesn’t seem to have punctured his lung.

“You’ll have to sleep thigh tonight, I don’t have even a little of magicka left on me to heal that,” she tells the mer who breathes shallowly under her watchful gaze, “You have a broken rib but it isn’t pocking anything. In the morning, when I have some juice back, I’ll heal you, ok?”

“Okay,” he whispers painfully and sighs as she covers him with furs from her pouch.

“Relax, I’ll look for some wood to make dinner.”

After some healthy and warm food, sleep and Nina’s healing, Teldryn is up and kicking once more. They take it easy and reach Raven Rock by noon the next day. Nina waves Glover as they pass by his forge and the two elves go down The Retching Netch, desperate for a bath and rest.

Teldryn and Nina sit at the barstools as Geldis gives them a concerned once over, “You look like death warmed over. Can I serve you anything?”

“Sujamma,” Teldryn rasps thirsty.

“And whatever you have to eat,” Nina adds rubbing the back of her neck, “A bath afterwards would be a godsend, also,” she sighs rubbing a painful spot and drinks from the goblet Geldis puts in front of her.

“Drovas, prepare the bath,” Geldis says to the other Dunmer who also works at the inn and leaves for the kitchen, coming back with two streaming stews and bread, “Enjoy it!” He says with good humour and leaves to tend to other patrons.

“I know you’re there,” Teldryn voice comes from where he sits inside the tub.

“I was wondering if there is enough space for one more in there,” Nina mumbles, taking her smalls off and walking to the bucket filled with water and the stool beside the bath.

The water on the tub sloshes as Teldryn moves his legs and peers at her back as she washes her body, sitting straighter. “Maybe,” he whispers as he admires her back when clean water rinses the soap off her skin.

Nina ties her clean hair up when she’s finished and stands, turning to the mer and showing her entire naked body, now completely clean and glistening under the light of the candles, “Maybe?” She questions getting closer and smiling down at him.

Teldryn takes stock of the sight in front of him with hungry eyes; white skin expands in front of him, smooth but for a few little scars here and there, pebbled nipples sit on round and big breasts, drops of water run down her body and his throat feels suddenly dry like an Elsweyr’s desert as he licks his lips imagining his tongue running down that body licking them all off, down and down, until reaching her bare core and tasting her. Then, there, that's what most drives him in. Not many females shave entirely, but damn if he doesn’t like it… or if he isn’t going to enjoy it.

Nina runs her hands up from her tights to her tits, squeezing and rolling her nipples with her fingers, moaning softly and throwing her head back as she hears Teldryn growl.

“Get in here,” he says roughly and extends a hand to help her in, “No,” he says before she gets down on the water, “I want to taste you,” he rasps and gets her closer to his face tugging on her legs.

Nina complies easily, getting closer to his sitting form and sighing as his breath ghosts over her skin, “Yes,” she mumbles prolonging the sound and gasping as his warm mouth covers her sex. His tongue licking around her lips and her centre, avoiding her bundle of nerves and making her squirm as ghosts touches of his breath is the only thing touching where she most wants it, she growls grabbing his hair roughly as he takes too long teasing her.

“Teldryn,” she said breathlessly, encouraging him to get moving already with a lazy movement of her hips.

He laughs at her needy whine when he doesn’t complain, but grunts surprised and with desire when her foot finds his cock under the water, her sole pushing his dick against his stomach, pressing and moving slightly, teasingly, but not enough to satisfy him.

Understanding her, he delves into her folds once more, licking her dripping cunt and sucking on her clit. And she releases a delicious moan in reward, all for him.

Teldryn wakes up on the bed of the rented room and sits grunting as his bones click in place. He looks around and wonders if it was just a dream, because there is no sign of the previously naked and completely spent Snow Elf on his bed.

Shrugging his armor on and securing his weapons to the side, he walks out of the room and the inn entirely. He sees her laughing and drinking with Glover over the forge and walks near.

Nina turns to him with a smile that turns from happy to teasing with one corner rising higher, “Finally, I thought I’ll have to use healing hands if you didn’t wake up in the next hour.”

Glover snorts on his sujamma, coughing and turning to the side, laughing as he raises the goblet to her for more alcohol, “If you really did all you said you did, I’m more surprised that he’s still breathing!” The Breton also teases and Teldryn sighs.

“It’d take more than that to do me in, Glover,” the Dunmer says cockily.

Nina hums, “Don’t give me ideas,” she whispers wistfully and winks, “We’ve still got a lot of things to do, as much as I’d like to play with you for the rest of the day.”

Glover straightens then and takes a look at the many weapons and armour on the bench Nina was supporting against, “I can’t believe you can carry around all this in that tiny thing,” the man shakes his head and inspects an ebony mace closer, “This is old but in a nice state, most of these things are, really… But I’m afraid I don’t have the money to buy all of it.” He grumbles and looks up at Nina with an apologetic shrug.

“Don’t worry about it,” the Falmer says nonchalantly, “I have an idea for that. You keep everything and fix whatever needs fixing, when you sell it, you keep my part of it until I come by. Think about it as a partnership.”

“And how much of it would go for each of us?”

Teldryn cocks his head as she discusses it, but she startles as they cross eyes, “Oh shit, I forgot. Sorry, Teldryn. What do you think about this idea? If you don’t want to...”

The Dunmer shrugs, “I’m fine with the deal,” Teldryn says and crosses his arms amused and observing as she haggles the percentage each of them will get. Learning something new in the process.

Good scavengers get lots of loot; doing it alongside Nina they collected more than he ever did with any other patrons. That maze alone costs around a thousand septims, without worrying about Glover having to fix it, the fifty percent goes to them; five hundred septims, of which two hundred and fifty are going to be solely his… He gets startled out of his musings as Nina touches his arm.

“Yes, sera?” He automatically responds.

Nina blinks owlishly for a moment and Glover snorts, “He calls you that after you bed him? This one’s a keeper,” the blacksmith says with a laugh and Nina gives Teldryn a soft smile that makes him uncomfortable. He thanks Azura for his helmet, because he sure as Oblivion feels a deep blush creeping up... stupid Mallory.

“I was asking if you wanted to change you elven sword,” Nina says once more, raising the daedric sword in her hands in front of his eyes.

“Oh…” Teldryn gasps, “Where did we find one of those? I don’t remember…”

“We didn’t,” she says pushing the sword on his hand, “Come on, try it.”

Teldryn grasps the handle and gives it a few testing swings. The weight is the same as he’s used to with the elven sword, but the sharpness of this new one makes him handle it that much more carefully. “If we didn’t find it then, is it yours?”

Nina shrugs, rummaging in her pouch and taking a matching daedric dagger and handing it to him, “I always pack spares. It wouldn’t be the first time I lost or even broke one mid-travel. So, what do you think? Better?”

Teldryn laughs, “Better? The best!” He shakes his head, “But I can’t accept it…”

Nina grunts rolling her head, “Don’t start! We have to free the people from the Earth Stone next. I don’t want you getting injured again.”

She glares fiercely until he relents raising his hands and she nods satisfied. “Once we are in Skyrim I’ll ask Tholor for a better armour for you too, I know how easy it is to get through that chitin armour first hand, so go getting used to the idea,” she says still smiling and walks away to haggle the rest of the things they collected.

“Wait,” he says following after her steps. “First hand?” He asks with no little curiosity.

“Morag Tong uses those...” she stands in front of Fethis and gets a startled look from him, “Hello, what do you sell?”

“The question you should be asking is ‘what don't I sell here’ because I have pretty much any supplies you might need. If it's not a weapon, potion or armor, then it's likely that I have it.”

Even with the bad situation going on actually in the city, Nina gets rid of most of the things she wanted to sell. The rest she’ll find where to take at Skyrim. Teldryn follows as they walk up the mine in silence, rummaging on his head about her words. Fighting Morag Tong isn’t easy work… maybe he can get the story of that later.

###### 9 Rain’s Hand, 4E 202, Solstheim

Teldryn follows as they walk up the mine in silence and only then, when they are alone, he speaks again.

“Do you usually have problems with the Morag Tong?”

Nina stops at the entrance of the mine, looking back at him and touching the back of her wrist, “Telvanni, remember? There are many who dislike the House out there. When I was living at the island, four hundred years ago or so, they were all over the place. Tried to be sneaky about it, but I easily caught and killed over a dozen of them trying to get past my defences.”

“A dozen?” Teldryn whispers sounding shocked.

“A while ago I met another, but he got lucky that he works with my son now or I wouldn't just punch him,” she sneers, “I got a dislike of them after the fifth time they got into my room, disrupting my sleep.”

“Your sleep... of course,” Teldryn whispers with a laugh and they go inside the mine.

As they go deeper, they can hear a couple discussing and slow down to catch what they say.

“Damn it, woman! I said leave me be!”

“Crescius, last time you explored the mine you almost fell to your death. I'm not spending the rest of my days as a widow!”

“And I'm telling you that I'll do whatever it takes to find my great-grandfather's remains. He's down here, I can feel it.”

“That was almost two centuries ago. There may be nothing left to find.”

“Just let me go, woman!”

“Crescius, you're an obstinate old fool and you're going to get yourself killed.”

“An Imperial and a Dunmer. You don’t see that every day…” Teldryn whispers as Nina walks closer to the man, thinking the same internally.

“Glover wants his Ancient Nordic Pickaxe back,” she said standing in front of the Imperial.

“The damn fool doesn't even deserve it! The pickaxe was made for mining, not selling. I'll bet he stole it from the Skaal in the first place.”

“That doesn’t mean you get to take it and use it, without asking first and whenever you please, does it?”

“Oh, very well. Here. Tell him I hope he drops the thing on his foot.”

“Also, I heard you discuss with your wife,” the man harrumphs and glares at her, “Why do you insist on risking your life on the mines?”

The man was a hard bone to gnaw, but in the end, after a long talk, he explained everything about the mysterious death of his grandfather and the mines. With his permission to keep anything she may find down there, she got the key to see if she can find the secret door he missed.

But, after releasing the people from the Stone, of course.

So, they went that evening to fight the monster that comes out of it, properly armoured and scaring half… or maybe all, the people of the city as Nina put on her complete daedric set.

###### 10 Rain’s Hand, 4E 202, Raven Rock Mine

Teldryn is happy, once more, that he uses a helmet that covers him entirely. He is sure that otherwise, everyone would see and know why he has such a stupid smile stuck on his face. The smile didn’t leave his face since he woke up to Nina going down on him.

They arrive at the mine and Crescius sighs seeing them, “Good, you don’t have that freaky armour, I almost got a heart attack when I saw you yesterday,” the man shakes his head. “You use light and heavy armour equally?” He asks with curiosity and his wife to the side also pays attention.

“When you’re as old as I am, you’ve tried almost everything,” Nina shrugs.

Teldryn looks at her, curious about that, and Crescious asks what he doesn’t dare, “How old are you? You seem like a nice young elf to me,” the man says nonchalantly.

Nina laughs, “I’m hardly young. I’m 1786 years old,” she says and walks down the stairs, “Hurry up Teldryn!”

The dunmer shakes the shock away and hurries after her, but the couple left behind still can’t recover. Nina casts candlelight to hover near her as it is pretty dark down there and walks patiently as Teldryn gets closer, but she raises a hand when he’s right behind her.

“Hear…” she whispers and they froze in place, listening to the silence until… soft rubbing noises reach her ears, “Spiders,” she warns and prepares fire spells on her hands.

As they descend, the two frostbite spiders are no match for them. The hole going down the mine is deep and Nina remembers the discussion between the couple. If Crescius were to fall that far, he would certainly die… stubborn fool. They reach the bottom and there is only a bucket and a wall of wood.

“Well, there isn’t much here…” Teldryn comments unimpressed.

Nina reaches for the wood panels and feels the air rushing around her ears, she grabs the flimsy planks that look uneven with the rest and pulls. One after another she pulls them and a continuation of the mine is revealed. “You were saying?” she asks turning to Teldryn with a triumphant smile.

A few steps ahead, an iron door blocks the path, she tries the key and it yields to her, letting them pass. And it’s obvious why the place was blocked as they come to stand inside an ancient Nordic crypt all of a sudden.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting this…” Nina says.

Moss hangs from the ceiling and walls, water also drips over their heads, many draugrs attacks them, they find stalhrim and, of course, the tramps can’t be missing.

“What the hell?” Teldryn breathlessly rasps, resting against a wall, “There are so many of those damnable draugrs here and this place isn’t even as large as Miraak’s Temple was…”

Nina laughs, “Welcome to my day to day life back at home.”

More draugrs, more water, and they seem to reach an interesting room.

“That fall looks ugly,” the Dunmer says warily.

“Let me go first,” she says and using the shout for ethereal form, jumps down, illuminating the bottom with her hovering light, “Do you know any levitation spell?”

“No, do you?”

“Yes, don’t move and I’ll get you down here,” he nods and waits, looking with rapt attention at what she does, breathing a relieved sigh as his feet touch the floor not five seconds later, but five seconds too many.

Nina throws many magelights around the room, illuminating it, and they get to appreciate the immensity of the crypt. They walk forward with careful steps as the floor is uneven and the water makes the stones around it slippery with moss, finding a draugr on the water and another beside a skeleton and a pickaxe. The last skeleton lies over a rotten bedroll and holds a weird sword with a diary.

Nina wields the blade, feeling a weird enchantment on it, while Teldryn reads the diary, “Gratian Caerellius’ journal,” he says after a moment, shaking it over his head and startling as Nina moves the sword and some kind of red energy comes out of it, “What is that?”

“No idea,” she says equally startled. “What does the journal say?” she asks and gets closer, reading over his shoulder and murmuring aloud things that called her attention like ‘Bloodskal clan’.

She hums looking down at the blade as the dunmer puts the journal away and looks up expectantly.

Nina grabs an urn from her pouch that Caerellius gave her earlier and puts the man’s grandfather bones inside. Then she stands with the Bloodskal sword at hand and looks up at the door. She makes the first swing slowly, testingly, but still deftly; it’s been a long time since she used a dual-wielding weapon, but very much like walking, she’s never forgotten how to do it.

The red beam of energy that emanates from the sword in a horizontal line stikes the glowing red stone around the door and something clicks, the stone moves and the glowing vanishes, reappearing higher as a vertical mark. This happens every time she strikes with the sword in the proper position until the last vertical strike opens the door.

“That was the most ingenious damn puzzle door I’ve ever encountered and it’s older than me,” Nina snort, happy that her effort bore fruits, “I swear, Atmorans became stupider with the passing of time.”

Teldryn laughs softly as they walk past a large hall with swinging axes and into the following room with a chest long since rotted and void of anything useful. As Nina throws some more magelights, the water around the platform they’re is revealed and a dragon priest raises.

“I hate those things…” she grumbles and launches her strongest spell, dusting the undead thing in seconds.

A magelight reveals a word wall on the other extreme of the room and they walk around the water until reaching it. Nina grabs the mask from the fallen priest and studies the enchantments while Teldryn focuses on the wall.

“Can you read what this says?” He asks and she turns to see what he means.

“Oh, the scratches? That is written dovahzul, the dragon tongue.” She looks at the wall for a moment, reading it, “Pah WERID MOROKei MiraaK ZOK SULeyKaaR DO Pah SONaaK WEN MUL BOLaaV NaaL FahLUaaN DO JUL.”

Teldryn shivers as her words fill the room with a heavy aura, shaking himself out of it as she stops, “What does that mean?”

She slits her eyes, “All praise glorious Miraak, most powerful servant of all Dragon Priests, whose strength was granted by the Gardener of Mankind,” she says with a grimace and growls turning away.

The only way forward after that is by a room with another Black Book inside, Nina puts it in her pouch without a second thought and they don’t talk about it.

The exit of the crypt is on top of the towers of Bloodskal Barrow, which is full of Reavers. So they go back to the mine and to Crescius by the front door, catching him by surprise. The man pays them well and is thankful for killing the frostbite spiders too. Now, the mine can be reopened and everyone will be happy, or so he says.

After resting, they leave Raven Rock to free the other Stones early the next day. As they pass by the Attius farm, Nina searches around the house as she promised to the Captain, and finds a ‘Declaration of War’ from a supposedly dead Imperial General. Teldryn then guides her to Fort Frostmoth and they kill some Ash Spawns and the resurrected General.

Then, they free the fours Stones, Sun, Beast, Tree and Wind, and fight more monsters from Mora’s realm each time. By the end, they are exhausted and practically crawl back to the Skaal village… and people get scared once more as Nina is clad in full daedric armour.

###### 12 Rain’s Hand, 4E 202, Solstheim

Nina wakes up wrapped around a warm and firm body once more, some furs and hay underneath making the bed, laugh echoes around the room, light blinds her once more.

“Deja-vu…” she whispers and the warm body moves.

“No, this actually already happened,” Teldryn voice reaches her as Frea laughs.

“I brought you some breakfast,” the Nord says sitting at their feet and putting a tray on their laps, “And I wanted to say thank you. When our people started arriving in the afternoon, father and I prepared for your arrival, but we never thought you’ll come after midnight. What happened?”

Nina yawns and stretches, grabbing the warm drink offered and gulping it down. “Canis root?” She asks.

“Yes,” Frea smiles as she catches her grimace, “Bitter, isn’t it? But is widely spread here, even father likes it, I prefer others myself.”

“It’s been a while, but I used to drank this so often that I got to like it after a few years,” Nina comments and bites a piece of one of the buttered toasts from the tray. “We visited the four Stones closest to here, yesterday,” she says after swallowing, “The Wind Stone was last and afterwards we came here, it took us some time…”

“The people said that monsters came out of the water surrounding the Stones. Was it true then?”

“Monsters!” Teldryn snorts, “That is putting it mildly. Those were Hermaeus Mora’s demons.”

They finish breakfast while retelling their adventures of the last days to Frea, then taking a bath, and finally leaving after the Shaman gives them his own thanks for helping their village.

* * *

Finally, after many days, Nina reaches Tel Mithryn.

Neloth is centred on his investigation like usual and ignores them while his apprentice asked her many questions along the day, excited about meeting his Master’s Master.

They have a relaxing evening and when dinner is served, Nina pries the mage away from his research.  
“...so Storn said I should look for another book and try to learn what Miraak knows, but that is exactly what I want to avoid. The only Hermaeus Mora’s fan here is you Nel, I have other preferences…” Nina says, finishing her tale about her adventures on Solstheim.

“Yes, I remember,” Neloth grimaces.

“The thing is… I can’t fight Miraak when I know barely half of a shout. And if I ask Mora for the knowledge, he’ll ask for my soul. Thanks but no,” she drawls with a shiver.

“What is so bad about that?”

“That may be your perfect form of the afterlife, but it surely isn’t mine Neloth. I know how to appreciate knowledge, but I don’t live only for the sake of finding more of it.”

“As I see things, that’s your only choice anyway,” Neloth points at her with his fork, a bad habit he got from his boyhood as the action angered his parents. “You need knowledge only Mora can give you, so you go to him, I even know where to find one more…”

Nina snorts, “Please, I’ve found two already.”

“Well, what are you waiting for then?!” He grunts and focuses on his food while grumbling, “I can’t find more than one in years and she comes and gets two in a week...”

Nina sighs, chewing slowly and swallowing, “Don’t worry, I’ll give them to you when I’m done…”

Neloth looks up sharply and smiles, “You’re always such a nice visit, my dear friend.”

She waves her hand mindlessly with a grunt and picks at her food, but not even the choking of his apprentice can get the smile out of his face, Neloth even feels happy enough to let the mercenary sleep on his residence…

Later, while everyone gets ready for bed, Nina approaches Teldryn to warn him about her impromptu departure, “I have to talk with someone. I’ve been avoiding an important decision for the last… I don’t really remember how long,” she shakes her head, “I just know that I don’t want my soul going to Hermaeus Mora.”

“You’re going to make sure it goes somewhere else then?” Teldryn asks with a frown.

“Yes. It’s my damn soul, so I will choose where I want it to go,” she says determinedly. “I’ll be back later, surely, and then I’ll read one of the books. Don’t worry if you find me sitting somewhere with it, I’ve asked Neloth and he says that time passes too weirdly in Apocrypha. I could be there for a day, like the first time, or for months, like Neloth experienced many times.”

“Months? You came back bad enough after a day!”

“I was unable to move and Miraak attacked me. When you first go to a plane of oblivion you can’t move around without the Prince of that realm giving you permission somehow. If I could’ve moved, I would’ve kicked his arse.”

Teldryn shakes his head sitting down on the bed, “You talk about this so nonchalantly that it makes me wonder. How many realms have you visited?” He asks looking up with thin lips and tight fists.

Nina sits next to him and pats his back, trying to reassure him but it works only a little, “I’ve been to Sanguine’s Myriad Realms many times… since I was very young…” she reaches into her pouch and takes the rose staff from it, “This was his first gift to me, for giving him a laugh after he got me drunk enough to go around Valenwood scaring half of the population doing weird things. It’s become quite a tradition of his afterwards, he would find me and we’d get drunk and do crazy stuff and have fun.”  
Teldryn laughs, “I can imagine that.”

“Next I visited Moonshadow,” she tightens her grip as he gasps with recognition, “Sanguine took me there for a party and Azura was a bit miffed, but since he called me his champion publicly for a century before that, she didn’t do much than glare at me as they have a rule of not messing directly with the others champions.”

Teldryn snorts, “Seriously?”

Nina hums in affirmation, “Then, I got attacked by a werewolf when I was a thousand years old or so and became one myself for some months. When Sanguine appeared for one of his sudden parties, he took a look at me, grimaced, and appeared us into the Hunting Grounds shouting for, and I quote, ‘Ciny’s furry ass.’”

She laughs along with Teldryn for a long while, coughing when she didn’t get enough air, and waiting until he calms down.

“He called lots of other Princes, people and dremoras and started a party while Hircine complained that he was invading his realm. Obviously, Sanguine didn’t pay attention and the thing devolved not long after into an orgy, as usual,” Teldryn whispers ‘as usual’ and Nina smirks and shrugs. “Yep. So I ended up in the middle of them while the bastards decided what to do with me. As if I wasn’t even there!” She says shaking her hands with annoyance as she remembers the moment.

“I don’t know what happened afterwards as they fucked me into unconsciousness, but I woke up back on my bed with a terrible hangover and a dog sleeping in front of the fire. A note on the nightstand said that I had to take care of it for the next couple of months or I would get the lycanthropy back, so I did. I never discovered how they got Clavicus Vile and Barbas mixed in that, but I was grateful, so I never bothered Sanguine for an answer and just enjoy my time with Barbas around, he’s a nice guy, unlike his mischievous other half.”

“So that makes The Myriad Realms of Revelry, Moonshadow, and The Hunting Grounds,” Teldryn raises a finger for each plane, “Anything else?”

“There was that time I was at the Chantry of Auriel in Alinor, with the priest giving a ceremony, when he teleported beside me saying ‘What a bore, let’s go crash an orgy’ as he teleported us to the Deadlands,” she says laughing as Teldryn startles, “Mehrunes didn’t care about me, so there I was, the only mortal amid half of Oblivion… or it felt like that as there were lots of Dremoras everywhere.”

“Mehrunes Dagon hosting an orgy…?” the Dunmer asks and snorts at his own words.

“I visited the Deadlands repeatedly during the Oblivion Crisis later and I don’t feel like ever going back there,” she sighs mopily, “And then… The Shivering Isles.”

Teldryn’s head whip in her direction, “How are you still sane?!” He whispers troubled.

“I’m still sane because my once human best friend decided to help with something crazy that no one else could, and as a reward, he got to mantle Sheogorath. After the war with the Deadlands, my twin and my fiance dying all almost at the same time, and my responsibility with my three newly adopted kids, he said I didn’t need more craziness,” she says softly, hunching over and the mer hugs her with one arm around her waist.

“So, do you have any idea what you’re going to choose? Or who, more like?” Teldryn asks.

“That’s been the question of the last... who knows how many centuries,” Nina grimaces, resting her head against his shoulder.


End file.
